Pulled Into Colour
by Pile of Manga
Summary: Kinou was just an average girl who had an obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh!. Average, until she is kidnapped and taken into the animé world. Now, everyone from her favourite series is fighting for something she doesn't even know she has...
1. A Regular Day

**1. A Regular Day~**

"There!" said Kinou triumphantly. She laid down her pencil on the sketch of Kaiba she had just completed, nearly her fiftieth drawing of characters from her favorite anime cartoon, Yu-Gi-Oh. Looking down at the drawing, she swelled with pride at how well she had improved since she first began drawing these types of sketches. The sketchbook in which she had been drawing had been dedicated to Kaiba, and she would always flip through all of her drawings of him whenever she added a new one. She began to laugh as she turned to a particularly interesting drawing she had done, which she had captioned "I wonder what the cartoonists were thinking?". While watching a taped show, she had happened to pause it when Kaiba was facing the television with a metal bar in his hands, and he was pointing it straight out in front of him, holding it at quite an interesting place. This stance had flashed by so quickly that she had not caught it the first time she saw it.  Assuming the animators had a slightly sick sense of humour, she had sketched it down as well. 

                She turned off the TV and stopped the tape that was paused in mid-scene, from which she had been drawing. Sitting back on the couch, she glanced at the DVD burner clock beneath the 20-year-old VCR; it told her it was a quarter past nine. Surprised, she got up and looked at the microwave clock in her kitchen. Yes, it was 9:15. She had only taken twenty minutes to do her last sketch, whereas it usually took her nearly forty-five minutes when she was paying close attention to minor details, like how a portion of hair was hanging and shadows.

                _The windows need to be closed,_ said a small annoying voice in her head. 

Kinou groaned. _I really hate doing that._

                _But, _said the voice,_ if you don't the house will heat up. You know this house doesn't have air conditioning. Then Dad will come home and get mad because it's warm and you won't be able to blame it on anyone because you're the only one here during the day---_

                "All right..." she moaned. She really hated when she got into fights with herself and the do-right side won. Still in her pajamas, which were the only things she owned that were pink, she went around and began to close all of the windows except the one in her bathroom, for she still needed to take a shower. Pausing at the last window in the living room, she gazed outside before shutting it.

                It was a typical day in July: warm, cloudless, and noisy with the sound of chirping birds and little children running around with their parents on the way to the neighborhood park. Kinou sighed, wishing she could get out more. Then she reminded herself: that was _her_ fault; she had way too many indoor activities to keep her busy. Plus she never had any extra energy to waste walking outside or riding a bike. Her parents, especially her mother, would always try to get her to leave the house whenever they could, but she had established that inside was where she liked it and they could hardly ever sway her. Every once in a while she might go outside and just sit; that required no energy on her part and it felt really nice to have a soft breeze play across her face while she stared up at the clouds.

                She walked into her bedroom, undressed, and put her robe on, all the while staring around her room. Her eyes wandered onto the mirror on her wall and then came to rest upon an enlarged photo on the wall of herself at age six with her aunt's favorite iguana on her shoulder. A smirk formed on her lips as her mind began to compare the Kinou in the picture with the Kinou now, at age 15. Her mind usually started analyzing stupid things when it was devoid of thought.

                _Let's see now... number one: I don't have those beaver teeth anymore after years of braces... two: My ears are pierced in five places... heh, that rhymes… three: I _never_ wear my hair down like that, pretty much in a ponytail and that's all I do with it... four: my skin is a little scarred from a few years of acne and a little acne has decided to stay for good... five: my fingernails are painted black... and... _She chuckled as the last difference popped into her head:_ I have to wear a C-cup if I don't want my chest to die when I'm up and about.  Oh stop bragging! The bigger they are, the more guys will want you for only that. _

                She stopped thinking about the picture.

                She walked into the bathroom and surveyed herself in the mirror. Leaning forward to get a better view of her face, she tried to boost her confidence.

                "Hey, your skin isn't that bad; in fact, it's clearing up a lot!" she told herself, and she laughed. "Then my period will come and I'll break out all over again... I'm in marching band and that's really great! But, people who have never experienced it for themselves think that's the weirdest, most embarrassing thing to do in high school... face it. You're a dork. And just look! You're talking to yourself!"

                She stared at the mirror for a moment with her mouth open, casting around for some comforting thought. "But, I'm not that much of a dork. I have enough friends to keep me happy; people like me a lot for my personality...and a few for my looks come to think of it... I've heard from boys and girls that I have a nice butt...plus, this year I'll make more friends in my new classes. And I play the sax pretty well in band, as well as the piano. _Two_ instruments! And talking to myself is perfectly normal considering there's no one else to talk to!" she added, and, her spirits a little higher, she turned on the shower and stepped in. She yelled and jumped out instantly; she had forgotten that it took a while for the shower to heat up, and the water was ice-cold. _Stupid shower_, she thought miserably. 

                After her shower, Kinou looked into the mirror again and wondered why her hair looked dark brown when it was wet and entertained herself by trying to figure out what colour her eyes would be for the day. They were hazel, but some days they were brown, others green, and even gold in the right light.  Surprisingly, they were gold today. She looked at the bags under her eyes and sighed heavily. Kinou had always had a problem with sleeping, but the previous night had been particularly bad. And with her early bird habit, she was always out of bed by 8:30 no matter how little sleep she had gotten. 

                She decided to blow dry her hair today, something she rarely had any patience for. Not that her hair was long, (it was shoulder-length,) she just had a lot of it and it took forever to dry completely. But, she was bored, so she fumbled around and found a hair dryer she had received as a birthday gift two years before. She opened up the box and tore off the plastic covering the brand new hair dryer. After drying her hair, she put it carelessly into a loose ponytail and went into her room.

Her outfit today would be some comfortable jeans and her favourite black t-shirt. She added the usual things to her wrists: a band with safety pins that she had taken off of one of her stuffed animals went on her left wrist below several strings that she never took off; a black snap band that had a silver skull on it went on her right wrist. Reaching up to feel her ears, she felt two small hoops at the top of her left ear and one small hoop at the top of her right. Touching her neck, she felt her necklace with a gold Egyptian bird on it. _Good, nothing came off overnight_. She then picked up some ribbons from her dresser and tied them onto her ponytail in a bow. She walked into the kitchen, putting her faerie earrings on as she went, and started cutting a bagel in half to cook. Popping it into the toaster, she started to debate about whether she should have butter or cream cheese on it. 

                _Cream cheese.... cream cheese tastes better so I'll go with that._

                _But,_ the bossy voice cut in again, _it's really, really fattening._

                _Screw you, I'm doing cream cheese_, she thought forcibly. Kinou really couldn't be proud of this win: she had this battle pretty much every day and the cream cheese side always won.

                While she waited for her bagel, she went back to her room to get her anklet on. It clinked loudly as she picked it up; she had started a collection of soda can tops on it. She had many of them so when it was on, it sounded like she had a stirrup attached to her ankle. For some odd reason, she felt really energetic today, so she put on her favourite pair of shoes in case she decided to walk to her friend's house to go to a convenience store or something with her. Her shoes looked like black, worn-in bowling shoes, but that was what she liked most about them. She pulled back the covers of her bed looking for her rag doll cat, Emily. She had seen something like her in a store the year before and decided to make her own instead of buying one. She found Emily and put her in the front left pocket of her jeans, which is where she always kept her.

                Something gave a muffled meow and she started. Looking around, she saw a small lump under her covers.  

                "Aw, Mairst, you scared me you cutest little cat that ever was!" she cooed, pulling back the covers to reveal her cat. She was crazy about cats and would always talk to them like this. "Oh, you're so fuzzy! Yes you are!" She spent a few minutes scratching her cat behind the ears before she realised that she had forgotten her bagel.

                "Oh crap!" she shouted, and she ran to the kitchen. The smell of burning reached her nostrils and she knew then that there was no hope.  

                "Damnit..." she muttered as she pulled her now black bagel out of the toaster and tossed it in the trash.  "That was the last one. Well, I guess I'll go with cereal then," and she pulled out a box of Crispix and a bowl and spoon.  She went into the family room and turned on the TV and began to flip through channels. Whenever she got bored, she found it very entertaining to listen to about 10 seconds of one channel, make an opinion about it, then flip to the next. 

The first channel to show up was a Spanish soccer game: _Do those commentators ever stop getting orgasms over every little thing that happens? _CLICK. A documentary about Custer's last stand: _Do we honestly need to waste our good archaeologists on things that don't matter? Why don't they study more about ancient Egypt? At least people care about that. _CLICK. A news report about a missing teenager: _Oh, he's really cute, poor guy. Terry? That's a little girly for a guy name. _CLICK. Barney. CLICK. An old Western movie: _Oh, please, he just fell off his horse, there's no blood or anything. _CLICK. Another documentary, this time about great American presidents: _Ha, I wish Bush were at least somewhat like these guys; first he needs to learn how to speak………._

When she had finished her cereal, she put the bowl in the sink, intending to wash it later on in the day. In the living room, she lay down on the couch to take a nap, wondering why everything was so comfortable during the day and her bed was so uncomfortable at night. Closing her eyes, she imagined what her life would be like if she were in the Yu-Gi-Oh world. What role would she play? She tried to think of this every time she fell asleep because it usually gave her very interesting dreams. _I would be a duelist and I'd hang around with Yugi and Joey... and Tea.... and Tristan..._

*  *  *


	2. Two Worlds Collide

**2. Two Worlds Collide~**

                Kinou was standing in the middle of a room and she was being tested for something. The Dark Magician was standing in front of her and someone was commanding it to attack her but it didn't want to... then a girl who apparently didn't like Kinou very much arrived with a fire pokemon and shouted at it to attack her. It blew a stream of fire at Kinou and she created a protective shell around herself using some psychic ability. Morpheus from the Matrix was talking on an overhead speaker and saying that she was particularly strong against fire attacks. Then she was standing behind the girl who didn't like her who was standing in front of a panel of judges. "The Dark Magician _likes_ her? That's why it wouldn't attack? She cheated!" Then Kinou was on the edge of a dueling arena and was being challenged to a team duel. Yugi was on her team, and the opposing team was two strange boys and the Dark Magician, who looked very confused and strange, holding dueling cards in his hands. A girl walked up and gave the Dark Magician a kiss and he started to cry. He hugged Kinou close to him, muttering and kissing her on the forehead. When he finally let go of her, she went to her place while Yugi explained the rules of the game. You needed to roll dice to summon monsters; a "one" would enable you to summon a level one monster, and "two" would give you a level two monster...etc. Kinou rolled a black die, which enabled her to summon a level four monster. Glancing into her hand, she realised with a jolt of her stomach that she had only pokemon cards, which would be useless in a duel monsters duel. She attempted to summon and electric pokemon called chinchou. Then Professor McGonagall appeared with a dazzling light shining behind her and said that Kinou had a fine collection and had been collecting pokemon cards for a long time...

                Kinou awoke with a start with her hand over her eyes. _What a weird dream_, she thought. She noticed that something felt really different to her and she took her hand off her eyes and glanced around the living room. It was extremely dark, as though the shades had been drawn over the windows in the middle of the night. It looked like some light purple fog was swirling around the room as well. She propped herself up on her elbows and squinted at a digital clock on the desk beside the couch: It was only 10:00 in the morning.  

                She sat up straight and looked around warily. "That's weird," she said slowly, and she shrugged. "All well, I must still be dreaming." That satisfied her enough, so she lay back on the couch, but shot up almost immediately, for she had heard a quiet laugh from the shadows across the room from her, and a voice trailed out.

                "This is no dream," it said.

                Kinou went rigid. She knew that voice, but... it couldn't be. She straightened up and said confidently, "It has to be, how else could it be this dark? Unless the clock is telling me it's 10 at night; then my dad would have gotten me up by now and sent me to bed."

                "This darkness is what happens when two worlds interfere with each other."

                "Ummm, sure," she said_. I might as well have some fun and try to make sense of this part of the dream._  "Who do you think you are waking me up? How did you get into my house?"

"I have my ways," said the voice.

                "Your ways? Oh, that's really specific, I understand completely now." she said sarcastically. When the person did not respond, she went on. "Why are you standing in the shadows? Why don't you just show yourself so that I don't have to imagine what you look like anymore?"

                "Why are you asking? You should know who I am."

                She paused_. I _hate_ it when my dreams play games with me and make me think._ "I know who you _sound_ like, but if this isn't a dream, then you can't be who I'm thinking of. You sound like Marik from Yu-Gi-Oh, which is a cartoon, and.... you can't be him," she finished lamely.

                "Who says I'm not?" laughed the voice.

                "I do! Come out of the shadows already!" Kinou shouted, standing up.

                "As you wish," said the voice, and Kinou saw movement in front of her. As the person stepped into the light, she gasped. He _was_ Marik, Millennium Rod and all, and he was smiling in the evil way she knew too well from watching Yu-Gi-Oh. He had long, light blonde hair, tan skin, and purple eyes and he was at least two inches taller than Kinou, making him a little intimidating.

                Kinou slowly came to her senses. "Ok, so you are Marik, which makes me even more sure that this is just a dream." 

                He folded his arms. "I have told you already, this is real; no dream."

                "So if this isn't a dream, why are you here in my world? Why aren't you still with the other anime cartoons?"

"I'd have thought you would have figured that out by now. I have come to fetch you."

                It took a few seconds for the absurdity of these words to sink in. "Fetch me?" repeated Kinou blankly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

                "Exactly what it sounds like." Marik stepped closer and grasped Kinou's arm firmly above her elbow. "We're going."

                "Where?" asked Kinou, trying to wriggle out of his grip.

                "Back to 'the anime world' as you would call it," he said, squeezing her arm tighter; he waved the arm clutching his Millennium Rod. Kinou immediately felt as though she was falling down a deep hole. She yelled, but could not hear herself above the sound of wind rushing past her ears.  

*   *   *


	3. The Transformation

Hey, everyone! I actually had a little stroke of brilliance and figured out how to add in little thoughts I have in my posts! *sweat drops* Yeah, I know, it's extremely easy, but I haven't really been thinking much these past few days. Thanks a lot for your reviews! I'll sort of start off by saying, Hi! My name is Edie! The main character, Kinou, is based on me, mainly because this whole story started out as a fantasy I had dreamed up in my head one boring summer day. It sort of escalated, so I started to write it down. Right now, on my computer the story as a whole is about 22 ½ chapters long, about 81 pages, and I'm still working! Well, yeah, I suppose I'll just leave it at that and let you know that if you have any questions or anything to say (positive or negative; I'm open to both), just let me know through your reviews! Arigato again!****

**3. The Transformation~**

                Suddenly, her feet slammed into solid ground; she would have fallen had Marik not been holding her arm. Kinou slowly tried to take in her surroundings through blurred vision.

                It was a sort of living room, but it appeared strangely fake, like a movie set. There were other people standing around, and all of them seemed to be wearing deep purple robes that hid their faces, just like the Rare Hunters that worked for Marik in Yu-Gi-Oh.  As her head cleared, she wrenched her arm free of Marik's grasp and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes; she felt as though she had just walked miles and she was out of breath.  Someone spoke above her.

                "Is that her?" he said.

                "Do you honestly think I would make the mistake of bringing back the wrong girl, you fool?" said Marik dangerously.

                "No, Master Marik, of course not," the Rare Hunter said quickly.

                Kinou looked up to try and take in more of the room. There were at least ten Rare Hunters standing around Marik and her, but from what she could see the room was very big: the ceiling was at least 15 feet high and a large chandelier hung from the top of it. There were various stone benches around the room and curtains of a deep purple hung over the windows, giving the room an eerie feeling. There were no doors. Kinou realised every pair of eyes were on her and she stared fixedly at the floor, still seeing the cold room reflected blearily within it.

"Master, shall we do it now?" asked a voice Kinou recognised as Odion's: Marik's most faithful servant.

                Kinou stopped looking at the ground and stared around for Odion; she finally recognised him amidst the mass of robed men. "Do what?" she asked nervously.

                "A mere transformation to make you 'blend in' a little better," said Marik with a dark chuckle. "You'd be very easy to spot if you weren't a--what's the phrase? An 'anime'?"

                "And how do you propose you're going to do that? Do you have some pixie dust or a magic paintbrush?" asked Kinou sarcastically, standing up and wiggling her fingers in front of her.

                "Oh, you'll find it's a lot simpler than that," said Marik with a wry smile, gesturing behind her.

                "Wha--" she said, turning around, and her mouth dropped open. There was a strange doorway behind her that she had not noticed because a few Rare Hunters had been blocking it from view. It was not attached to a wall; it was almost in the middle of the room. But instead of looking through and seeing the wall behind it, she saw a black mass that looked like it was swirling gently by itself.

                While she was gazing in wonder, Marik had stepped behind her. "Yes," he said, making her jump. "It's amazing what Kaibacorp comes up with these days. It took my Rare Hunters quite a lot of effort to steal this from its top security vault in Kaiba's building." He gazed at it for a few moments, and then shook his head as though he just              

remembered why he was there. "Well, in you go." He began to push her toward the blackness inside the doorway.

                "Whoa, hold it!" shouted Kinou, placing her hands on the doorway to keep from falling into it. "I don't want to touch--- whatever that is!"

                "What you see won't harm you, now go!" said Marik, pushing harder. But Kinou stiffened her arms and he couldn't budge her any further. "Help me, fools!" he shouted at the others standing around him, and they began to bend her elbows, making it harder for her to resist the force behind her. She raised her leg and planted one foot firmly in front of her on the doorframe, thinking that would hold her, but at that moment, Marik stopped pushing her; he threw his weight into her back, and she fell into the doorway.

                She did not fall through as easily as she thought she would: the black stuff was soft and offered a little resistance; it began to stretch as she fell into it and when she hit the floor on the other side, it had created a bubble around her. She laid still on the floor for a few moments, holding her breath, afraid she would not be able to breathe within the bubble. She started to panic, claustrophobia taking hold of her. She writhed as holding her breath became increasingly difficult; her sides were screaming at her. Finally giving up, she let out her last breath; before she could attempt to see if she could breathe, she gasped in surprise: she just had gotten the feeling that she had been doused in cold water. Her eyes widened with shock as she looked at her hand: her skin was bubbling. The things on her wrists were fastening themselves to her; she tried to pry them off, but they had already become part of her wrists, almost as if they were painted on. Her hands became smooth, her fingers elongated; she felt her face

and noticed that it had gone smooth as well; she could no longer feel any acne and it felt like her eyes were stretching to become bigger. Suddenly, Marik's hand plunged into the bubble and pulled her out of it.

                As she stepped out, she felt very different. She looked up at Marik, who had a triumphant look on his face as he beckoned one of his Rare Hunters forward with a mirror. As she looked into it, she yelled out, and the anime face staring back at her yelled too, but its mouth stretched to twice its original size, its pupils became very small, and a few sweat drops appeared on its face. She stopped and leaned closer to look at herself. Her bangs hung slightly over her face and her eyebrows were pencil thin. Her eyes were big, her pupils were golden, and there were white spots within the gold and black in the centre. Her nose was smaller and pointed and her mouth had no lips; it was just a small oval that displayed her surprise and curiosity. 

                "Well, if you're quite done, my Rare Hunters will show you to your room," said Marik.

                Kinou forced herself to pry her eyes off of the mirror to look at Marik. "What? Before you tell me why I'm here?"

                "I will tell you in time."

                "How about now?" she asked coolly.

                "I think you should rest before I throw anything else at you. Besides, I also require rest; it took a lot of my energy to travel between your world and mine, so I will tell you when we are both ready."

"I'm ready, I think that's enough," said Kinou defiantly, growing steadily angrier.

                "Well, I don't. You will find out soon enough. Show her to her room," he said, turning to his Rare Hunters. They moved towards Kinou, but she stepped toward Marik.

                "I want to know now!" she shouted.

                But he simply laughed and watched the Rare Hunters began to drag her away down a torch-lit hallway behind her. 

                "I'm not leaving!" she yelled, and with that, she stamped as hard as she could on the foot of a Rare Hunter holding her. He yelped out in pain and let go of her; she used her now free arm to punch the other Rare Hunter that was holding her in the stomach; he let go of her as well. More Rare Hunters replaced the two she had hurt, however, and she couldn't struggle against all of them at once. "Let me go! Get off! Tell me what the hell is going on Marik!" she yelled, but Marik simply watched her struggle with amusement and left through the other hallway across the room.

*  *  *


	4. A New Home

Thanks a lot for your reviews again ^_^. My computer was being stupid, so that's why I haven't posted for a while. This chapter's kinda short and nothing really happens, so I'll be sure to post more as soon as I can, which will probably be tomorrow some time. I've already tried to italicize with html coding, and it doesn't seem to work. All well. I've decided that Kinou's thoughts shall be marked and ended with *'s. That should make it a little less confusing! (Later note: now I know how to italicize, so never mind the asterisks ^_^)****

**4. A New Home~**

                The team of Rare Hunters finally got Kinou into her room and they locked the door. She kicked at it for several minutes, then, giving up, she decided to take in where she would be staying for however long Marik was planning to keep her. The walls were plain and white with no pictures; only artifacts that looked very old and delicate were hung on them.  A large bed was parallel to the opposite wall with a canopy hanging over it. There were short bookshelves lining the bottoms of the walls and a few small tables in random places, one of which was right by the bed with a small lamp upon it. She noticed a full-length mirror to the left of the bed, so she stepped up to it. She had already seen her face, so she instead looked at her body. She hadn't lost her curves, she was glad to see, but her legs were definitely skinnier and her breasts looked bigger. She remembered hearing somewhere that women are seen as sexual objects in Japanese animation and in almost every cartoon she had seen, all the girls over the age of 10 seemed to have perfectly formed chests already. Her arms weren't too different: they did have the few small things attached to them and her hands had perfect black nails: there were no chips in them and they were evenly cut. She turned to the side and noticed that her stomach looked really strange. She was used to seeing it hang out slightly with the "beer gut" she had inherited from her father, but now she was really skinny. At least she didn't have to hold it in anymore. _Not too shabby_, she said to herself, grinning. Emily was still hanging out of her pocket; Kinou picked her up and looked at her. She hadn't changed at all, though she felt limper in Kinou's hands.

There were large windows with no curtains covering most of the wall opposite the door; she walked over to them and peered out into the night.  

                _Night?_ She wondered. She could see some feeble light still shining in the distance. _Well, dusk anyway. Wow, time really flies in dreams... I really wish this one were one of those dreams where I could just decide to wake up; it's starting to freak me out. All of my other dreams jump around randomly, people hardly ever speak in complete sentences, and no one has ever insisted this much that it's not a dream._ She looked out at the back yard, which wasn't that big, for a dense forest started about six feet from the house. She looked to the left and noticed that the forest curved around this side of the house. To the right, there was a sharp contrast:  she could see a street and some other houses in the distance; just beyond them, a city rose up from the ground, illuminating the sky around it. _That must be Domino City_, she thought. _I wonder if Kaiba Land is still open?_ The moon was shining brightly; the way it lighted the trees made them look like they were painted.  She opened two of the windows and inhaled the air. It reminded her of home somewhat, and it gave her comfort.

                Kinou turned back to her room. _Not bad_, she thought, settling herself down upon the bed; it was soft and she immediately began to feel drowsy. She lied back and fell asleep quickly.

*  *  *


	5. Hidden Emotions

Heh, in response to someone's question to make the chapters more exciting, stories are never really interesting in the first few chapters, so just please BE PATIENT; this next one has some interesting action in it, and chapter six really gets things going! Enjoy this next one!****

**5. Hidden Emotions~**

                She awoke much later at the sound of a door opening. _Dad must be home. Wow, I must have slept a lot; it was an unusually long and complicated dream. _

                She sat up, stretching, and opened her eyes. She was still in Marik's house, on her bed, and the door sound had come from Marik entering her room. _Damn_. She thought miserably. 

                Marik shut the door behind him and leaned against it, eyeing her. Kinou stared right back with her arms folded.

                "Well?" she asked.

                "You want to know why you're here," he said, bowing his head.

                "I'm not really interested in that anymore. I just want to know how long you're going to keep me here, so that I can know when I'm going to wake up."

                "You still refuse to believe that this is real? It would make it a lot easier if you just accepted the fact that you're in my world now, not still sleeping on your couch at home."

                _Jeez. _She thought angrily_. He's really starting to annoy me_. "I'd think that would make it difficult for you," said Kinou thoughtfully. "What would happen if my dad came home and found me missing? He doesn't work twenty-four seven, you know."

                Marik smiled darkly. "Obviously you don't know about the other special power contained within my Millennium Rod. I may stop time in your world for however long I want. So, even if I kept you here for several years, the time in your world would stay at 10:03 AM, and I would simply start it back up again when I brought you back."

                Kinou stood up, thinking fast. "But... if you keep me for too long, I will have grown, and I won't be the same age when you put me back. How are you going to fix that?" She folded her arms again, quietly marveling at how good she was at pointing out problems. Her gloating was cut short, however, when Marik laughed again.

                "Surely, you have watched enough 'cartoons' to realize that people never get any older unless they are having visions of the future?" he stepped close to Kinou and her heart began to pump very fast: her last attempt at ruining his plan had failed. His face was barely two inches from hers when he continued. "So, even if I keep you here for years, you will stay 15 years old, as yourself."  Kinou loved being that close to him, but she didn't want him to know that, so she backed away. He walked over to one of the bookshelves and picked up one of the books and started reading it with mild interest. Kinou stared at him, distracted, marveling at how sexy he could be by just standing. She had the urge to walk over and take him back to her bed and read the book with him. 

                "What are you reading?" she asked.

                He looked up at her with his beautiful eyes. "Nothing important. I just remembered this book from somewhere and thought I would figure out where."

                "And…?"

                "This was a part of the scriptures my father forced me to study before my initiation," he replied, putting it back. "I remember the pictures as clearly as if I had learned them yesterday." He had a somewhat pained look on his face when he moved to pick up one of the small artifacts on top of the shelf. 

Suddenly Kinou wanted to just hold him and comfort him; she had seen and read about what his childhood was like: forced to study day after day, not being able to see the world above the ground, waiting for the pharaoh to return… Kinou walked over to the bookshelf as well and sat on it, watching Marik. He looked at her, then leaned against the bookshelf and folded his arms. 

                "It must have been hard, not being able to see anyone but your family," Kinou said. 

                Marik closed his eyes. "I hated my father for keeping me underground. My sister increased my hate by bringing me above ground to show me the world I was missing." He glanced at something in his hand.

                Kinou reached out and opened it up. There was a small, crumpled up piece of paper in it, and she picked it up and smoothed it out. It was the picture of a motorcycle that Marik had taken back from his visit to the world.  "I can't believe you still have this…" she murmured. 

                He took it back and stared at it. "I only look at it when I need to remind myself of how innocent I was; when I need help keeping back the evil inside me."

                "You mean Yami Marik?" she asked.

                He closed his eyes. "That spirit took over me the day I saw the world and he killed my father and almost killed Odion, too; all in front of my sister… I was so ashamed I allowed him to take over. He still does sometimes, when I'm alone and Odion's not there to help me." 

                _He looks so troubled,_ thought Kinou. She was just about to reach out and put her hand on his arm, when he stood up and walked away, shaking his head. Someone knocked on her door and Kinou jumped. 

                "I'm busy, I will speak with you later!" Marik snapped, and the person muttered something and left. 

                Kinou was brought sharply back down to reality. "You still haven't told me why I'm here," she said, suddenly remembering that she was angry with him.

                "Nor do I need to," he said, turning to her.

                She stood up. "You came in here to tell me and now you're not? Make up your mind!" she shouted. 

                "Yet you said you weren't interested in that anymore! You said this was just a dream!" he retaliated.

                Kinou stared at him with her mouth open. _He's too smart, damnit. Now I feel stupid. _

Marik put his hand to his chin, thinking. He smirked. Before she could think of what to say, he walked up to her and peered into her face. "So, if this is a dream, it would not matter what happened, now would it?" he asked.

                "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked hastily, backing away a few steps.

                "It means," he said, stepping forward. "that since this is a dream, I may do whatever I want and it won't matter because dreams are not real." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, looking into her eyes. "_Whatever_ I want."

Kinou tried to pull away from him, terrified, but he wouldn't let go of her. She did the first thing that came to her mind and stamped on his foot; he yelled and let go of her and she fell hard on the floor. Wincing, she looked up to see him holding his foot, his face twisted with fury. Suddenly a bright Millennium Eye appeared on his forehead and his voice sounded distorted as he looked down at her.

                "You will learn to show some respect!" he shouted at her, and he put his hand to his face, as though it hurt him. He turned abruptly and stalked out of her room, slamming the door behind him.          

*  *  *


	6. Reality

Heh, sorry but I lied again... well, not intentionally anyway. I hadn't read over my story in a really long while, and I seriously thought this chapter was the really exciting one.... But it's not. It's just a really short one, so I'm going to put this one up and then post the next one right after it!!!! Sorry again ^_^!****

**6. Reality~**

                It took Kinou a few minutes to recover from her shock. Marik had just _hit_ on her. Sure, she had always fantasized about it; she was so in love with evil characters, but something had frightened her. What if he tried to do something else? Well, at least she knew how to drive him off somewhat. It looked like his evil side had just emerged and almost completely taken over him before he walked out; what if that happened the next time she retaliated? What would Yami Marik do to her? 

                She stood up and sat on her bed, her head in her hands.

                _God, what a weird dream this is,_ she thought.

                _But what if it isn't?  _said another voice_. In all my other dreams, no one has insisted this much that it's not a dream, and if I really want to wake up, I can make myself wake up; I've done it before... maybe I should try it before I go crazy._

                Kinou closed her eyes and sat for a moment, trying to remember how she had gotten herself up in the past. _I remember thinking that I didn't want to see something happen, and saying that I was going to wake up to avoid it..._ Kinou tried to think of something foreboding to her. _Duh_, she thought, hitting herself in the head. _Marik and the whole new attitude he just showed me; now that's something pretty scary. I really don't want anything to happen, so I'm going to wake up to avoid it._

                She opened her eyes and looked around the room; nothing was disappearing, moving, or changing at all. She tried thinking of other things that were frightening to her: she thought of the Rare Hunters, the fact that she could be gone for years without anyone noticing, not wanting to see what Yami Marik would do if he took over Marik completely, but each to no avail. She started to pace, becoming panicked again, trying over and over again to wake herself up. She even tried pinching her arm, which had failed in all of her dreams, yet it seemed to be popular in waking other people up, but that didn't work either. After nearly twenty minutes, she sat down heavily on her bed. She closed her eyes and made one last effort to wake herself and thought of the fact that this could not be a dream: the scariest thought she could summon. She opened her eyes slowly to see the room that refused to disappear, and cried herself to sleep.

*  *  *


	7. Escape

Tah dah!!! Ok, so here's the most exciting chapter so far, and it's reeeeeeeeeeally long! There's always a string attached, right? Heh *nervous laugh* hope you all enjoy it as much as I while writing it!****

**7. Escape~**

                Kinou did not know for how long she had slept, but something woke her up. She sat up and glanced out the windows to try to get some grip on time. It was extremely dark now, meaning it was probably sometime around midnight. She heard voices through the floor of her bedroom, and quickly dropped to her knees and pressed her ear to the floor. She could barely hear anything, but she noticed a small ray of light that was coming from the corner of her room. She quietly crawled towards it, and found that it was a small hole, through which she could see into the room below. There was a group of Rare Hunters gathered around a table and they were obviously debating about something. They had their hoods down, so she had a clear view of their faces. She quieted her breathing, which had become very fast, and listened intently. 

                "You know what's going to happen to us, don't you?" a nervous and angry Rare Hunter was saying to the others grouped around him; he looked short, even though he was standing up. He was bald, and his head was shining with sweat. "As soon as he figures out how to make her use her power?"

                "Keep her as a toy?" said another, and everyone but the first rare hunter laughed. 

                "Snigger all you like, Laigu," he said. "But I know that he will dispose of us."

                "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" asked Laigu angrily.

                "I mean that once he has her power at his will, he won't need us anymore, and he will think we've seen too much and send our minds to the Shadow Realm to keep us from revealing anything!"

                A stunned silence followed his statement. 

                "Hey, maybe Gani's right!" piped up another. "He's done it to many others, and that was when they simply failed to beat Yugi Moto in a duel!"

                "I say we should leave here and take her with us; we'll figure out how to use her power and we'll get Yugi's Millennium Puzzle for ourselves! We have done more than enough for Marik, it's time we got something back!" Gani said, hitting the table with his fist.

                Some of the others agreed, nodding, but not all of them. Laigu and the Rare Hunters grouped around him looked skeptical. 

                "What makes you so confident we can do that?" he asked.

                "Because we know what the power is and one of us has the knowledge of how to train the mind to use it!" Gani said, gesturing to a man sitting to his right, who bowed his head solemnly.

                "What makes you so sure she will listen to us?" said Laigu. "What if Marik has already brainwashed her to make her distrust us?"

                Gani stared at Laigu, biting his lip, thinking hard. Kinou, who had only focused on Gani up to this point, turned her head to look at Laigu as well. He had brown hair, and a moustache and beard that went up the sides of his face. He looked strong and tall; he was probably the leader of the group. "Then we can just brainwash her back! You have done that to many others, have you not, Pontai?" Gani asked, turning once again to the Rare Hunter on his right, who nodded again. Pontai looked very old and feeble; his face was heavily wrinkled and his greyish white hair was shoulder length. Before Gani could look too satisfied, he spoke in a light, wispy voice.

                "But, I never have reversed a brainwash as powerful as that of Marik's, so I'm not promising anything," he said, and more muttering arose from those around him.  Gani, realizing he was losing his support, began stuttering, thinking very fast.

                "I--well, maybe if we--ah—" he stopped and sat down heavily, accepting defeat rather quickly.

                Laigu looked around at everyone, smiling--he knew he had won. "Well then," he said clapping his hands together. "Why don't we forget all this nonsense and—"but he was cut short by someone clearing their throat and standing up. "Yes, Kantugo? What is it?" he asked. Everyone turned to look at another tall man that Kinou had not noticed before. He bore some resemblance to someone that she couldn't quite put her finger on; his hair was light brown, his eyes were light teal, and he had a sort of gangly look about him, yet he still stood tall and powerful.

                "I think all of us should have a say in what we do about the girl," he said, looking around at everyone. "We all fear Marik, do we not?" There was some murmured agreement amongst the others. "And with this new weapon, he will be even stronger and we will cower forever more underneath his rule. I say we should listen to Gani and take the Millennium Puzzle for ourselves."

                Laigu stood up also. "Did you not hear what Pontai said? It is very unlikely that he will be able reverse any brainwashing Marik has already done!"

                Kantugo looked over at Laigu. "I did hear, but, you forget that Marik might not have even have brainwashed her yet. All we know is that he went into her room and left some seven minutes later, and I believe that is not enough time to brainwash someone completely."

                "Not to mention," another Rare Hunter chimed in, "he came out swearing and holding his foot. I know he said that he had stubbed it earlier and it was beginning to bother him again, but I think it was the girl who did it! If she kicked him, that means she does not show loyalty to him yet, meaning he has not toyed with her mind!"

                "He's right!" said another, "I remember hearing something while he was in there, for I was in this very room, listening through that hole in the corner—" he gestured towards where Kinou was, and she gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Carefully leaning forwards again, she saw that the Rare Hunter had stopped and was staring at the hole through which she was looking with confusion. He shook his head as though he had imagined it, however, and continued. "I distinctly remember him yelling something about showing him respect, so she must have hurt him!" he finished triumphantly, punching his hand. All of the Rare Hunters started talking at once, most of them looking convinced, but Laigu hushed them, and they fell silent.

                "Where did you say the hole was Naki?" he asked turning to the fat, blonde-haired Rare Hunter who had just spoken.

                Naki pointed towards Kinou again, and before she could sit up again out of sight, Laigu had swooped over and looked back at her through the hole with his piercing grey eyes. He startled her and she yelled, falling backwards. "I thought I heard something!" he shouted, "The girl has been eavesdropping on us through _your_ hole in the ceiling!" he pointed an accusing finger at Naki, who looked horrified. 

                "Let's hurry, before she escapes and reveals to Marik what she has just heard!" yelled Kantugo, and they swarmed out of the room.

                Kinou stood up quickly. _Shit_, she thought, _what do I do now_?  Her eyes darted around the room and found the door first. She grabbed one of the small tables and jammed it underneath the door handle, hoping it would hold the door shut. She heard thumping feet on the stairs and began to panic. She looked around, saw the windows, and ran to them. _I can fit through easily, but what if I fall?_ Kinou had a fear of heights and she hesitated at the windows. Suddenly, the door handle began to rattle: the Rare Hunters had come. She could hear muffled curses and someone started ramming the door. She turned back to the window and climbed out clumsily just as the door burst open. She spotted a drainpipe to her right and began reaching for it as the Rare Hunters ran across her room; one almost grabbed her foot as she climbed onto the pipe and began to slide down. When she reached the ground and began to run, she heard the Rare Hunters moving again and noticed that they weren't at her window anymore: they were going to chase her.

                Kinou ran up the street towards the city, thinking she might be able to find someone to help her, but as the Rare Hunters burst from the house, she realised that going into the woods would have been the obvious choice had she been thinking straight. _Well, no turning back now, I've got to go faster!_ And she ran on, ignoring the pain rising in her legs: she knew she was not built for running and was never particularly good at it. _Just keep going_, she urged herself over and over again, thanking the high levels of adrenaline now pumping through her body, and never turning her head to look at where the Rare Hunters were. She reached the city within minutes, for it was not far away, and only here did she begin to think of ways to lose the Rare Hunters other than running. Almost as though some being had read her thoughts, she passed by an alleyway_. I should be able to lose them in there_, she thought, and she turned around and ran to it, glancing back quickly at the Rare Hunters, who were rapidly approaching. She ran in and wiped her mind of logic thought; she could not think about where she was going, it would make her think too long about which turn to make next. She heard the Rare Hunters shouting and one yelled above the rest: "Split up and search!" Kinou kept running, not paying attention to the fact that her chances of being caught were just made quite a bit larger.

                She stopped, for she had come out of the alley and had run out into the middle of a street. A car drove by, speeding, and nearly hit her before she jumped back, falling over a trash can back into the alley. A couple of Rare Hunters passed by; glancing down the alley, they didn't see Kinou concealed in the shadows at their feet. They ran on, and she slowly sat up, taking care to stay behind the trashcan. A pungent smell reached her nostrils, and she gagged. The trashcan was overflowing with food scraps and unopened containers past their expiration date. She hugged her knees and rested her forehead against them, suddenly aware of how much her body hurt, and breathed deeply and quietly through her mouth. She could still hear people running, though none of them sounded near, and after a few minutes, all was quiet and she looked around the trash can to her left at the street cautiously. She couldn't see anyone, and was just about to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief, when something moved in the shadows across the street and she caught the sigh in her throat.

                There was someone directly across the street from her, and they were simply... _standing_ there, almost as if they were watching her. She thought it looked like a man, but she couldn't tell if he was a Rare Hunter, (he was hidden in shadow,) but just in case, she drew behind the garbage can again. She rested her head upon her knees again and closed her eyes, a million questions racing through her head all at once.

                _What now? I don't know this city at all, I don't know anyone who lives here, and I don't know how long it will be before the Rare Hunters give up their search._ She began to think about the conversation she had overheard. They kept on saying "her power_". If I have a power, I sure as hell don't know what it is. Maybe Marik was going to tell me before I stamped on his foot. _She became angry with herself._ He was just _hugging_ you, big deal, why did you flip out? Now you may never find out what it is; Marik will probably just take over your mind and use it that way and he won't have to tell you at all. But wait, they were talking about him using it to get Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, and I don't want to see that happen or be responsible for it. I wonder when he stopped using Duel Monsters to try to get it? _

                Footsteps interrupted her thoughts; the Rare Hunters were coming back. Kinou stayed in her curled up position, not moving and listening. They weren't running anymore, and they sounded frustrated and angry.

                "We'll have to wait until morning; night is too dark to be searching for one person in the middle of the city," Kantugo was saying.

                "But by then she could have found someone to hide her, or even be on the other side of the city!" said Laigu angrily. 

                "Come on, Laigu, do you think that she would? She does not know this city; she will be lost and curled up in some alley, scared out of her wits!" Kantugo retaliated, and Laigu became silent. The rest were murmuring and looking disgruntled. They passed by her and continued back towards the house.      

                She chanced a glance after them and was about to relax, when she noticed that the person across the street was still there, and she still couldn't tell who it was. Before she could wonder anymore, she noticed that there was a person walking down her side of the street, and she pulled behind the trashcan again. The person didn't walk by, however: they stopped right next to her and she heard some beeps, like they were holding an electronic device, and she felt the person turn to look down the alley. Then they chuckled softly, saying, "I've got her," in a deep, low voice.

                Kinou would have gotten up and run had she not been frozen with fear. The person stepped in front of her and said, "That's quite a hiding spot, Kinou. A little dirty for a girl, though, wouldn't you say?"

                Kinou looked up and saw Seto Kaiba towering over her, his white overcoat billowing out behind him majestically; her heart melted. 

                Kaiba got down on one knee to see her better, though he still had to look down to talk to her. "I think you've had a rough night. Why don't you come with me now? I can assure you the guest suite in my mansion will be a lot more comfortable than whatever that fool Marik gave you."

                Kinou found her voice at last. "How do you know where I've been? And how did you find me?" she asked breathlessly.

                Kaiba laughed. "It's a very intricate plan, but I'll simplify it for you. I was the one who discovered you and planned to bring you here, and I created the portal that changed you into one of us. I then had a spy dressed as a Rare Hunter intersperse with the other Rare Hunters—"

                "Who?"

                "You may have already met him: Kantugo." he said calmly, and Kinou suddenly realised who Kantugo had reminded her of.

                "Then he would help the others and Marik steal it from its vault—"

                "Why?" Kinou blurted out.

                "I was getting to that," said Kaiba, sounding impatient. "I let the Rare Hunters steal it because I knew that Marik had a way to bring you here, whereas I didn't, so I let him go through all of the trouble."

                "Well, that was smart," said Kinou, impressed. "But that still doesn't explain how you found me when a team of Rare Hunters couldn't."

                "That was the doing of Kantugo. He joined their ranks a few months ago when I first developed the portal, and has since then gained their trust. Unfortunately, you happened to escape, but Kantugo is the quickest thinker I know and he came up with an alternate plan to help me to you. He used his trust to lure the Rare Hunters away on a false trail, then to bring them back and make them give up until morning. Luckily, when you were being 'escorted' to your room, Kantugo bugged you by placing this on you," he reached behind her and pulled what looked like a small butterfly out of her hair. It was so inconspicuous, Kinou had not noticed it: it looked like it could have been a part of a hair tie. He held it in his long, slender hand or a few moments, before putting it back in her hair, saying "I think we'd better keep this on you for now."

                Kinou sat for a moment, not saying anything. Kaiba tilted her chin up and looked into her face. "It looks like my portal worked without a glitch," he said, grinning.

                She looked deep within his eyes, marveling at how blue and beautiful they were compared to what she had seen in pictures of him. "Can I ask you something?"

                Kaiba looked surprised, but nodded.

                She hesitated, wondering whether she should ask, at the risk of seeming foolish for not knowing. "What exactly is the power that everyone wants out of me?"

                To her surprise, Kaiba laughed again. "You mean to tell me that Marik hasn't told you that yet?"

                "No, he hasn't. All he's told me is that he can stop time in my world and he'll be able to keep me here for years without anyone noticing," said Kinou miserably.

                "Well, then," said Kaiba, standing up. "I will tell you everything you need to know on the way back; I'll call for one of my helicopters. Hey," he said, pressing a button on his collar, which Kinou knew was a way for him to communicate with his company wherever he was. "Send me my chopper, and make it snappy."

                He turned back to Kinou and held out his hand. "Why are you still sitting? My chopper will be here momentarily."

                She took his hand eagerly and he helped her stand up, which made her feel even smaller: she barely stood taller than his shoulder. Suddenly, they heard a rumbling, as from a motor, and a bright light blinded them as a motorcycle drove up.

                Kinou put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the light, but the man riding the motorcycle turned it off and the light went out. He took off his helmet and spoke to them. "Well, Kaiba, I see you've found what I was looking for," came Marik's voice. "I suggest you give her back to me."

                                                "I think not, Marik," said Kaiba, his eyes narrowing. "For it was I who found her first; besides, you didn't even have the decency to tell her why she was brought here in the first place, you dog."

                "I would have told her," said Marik, looking at Kinou, "but I felt that she needed to show a little more respect to me before I told her anything important."

                "Show respect? To you?" sneered Kaiba. "What did you do, yell at him?" he asked turning to Kinou.

                "Yes, but that's not what made him angry," said Kinou, glaring at Marik. "I stamped on his foot."

                Kaiba laughed. "I think that's a pretty good hint that she should come with me, especially since she worked so hard to escape from your little kiddy hideaway," he said to Marik.

                "She should come with me because I was the one who brought her here; I need her for more important things than tests, Kaiba!" said Marik, his voice rising.

                "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's my chopper in the distance coming to bring me and Kinou back to my mansion, where she will receive more hospitality than you have given her so far."

                "Erm," murmured Kinou, interrupting their argument. "I was wondering if I could have some sort of a say in this? I'm not like a piece of furniture with no brain to think for itself," she said defiantly.

                Kaiba continued to look at Marik, a mocking smile on his face. "An excellent idea, Kinou. Who would you like to leave with?"

                "I'd like to go with Seto, because he's actually going to tell me all that I need to know on the way back to his mansion, which, I might add, doesn't have weird Rare Hunters running all over the place," Kinou said, glaring at Marik.

                "Good choice," said Kaiba, while Marik said nothing. He put his hand on Kinou's shoulder and threw a satisfied smile at Marik. "She's made her decision and we don't need you around anymore, so you can leave now," he said coolly. Marik looked murderous, but his face suddenly twisted and he bent over double, groaning loudly, clutching his head. At that moment, Kaiba's chopper stopped over them and Kinou and Kaiba turned to grab a ladder that had descended for them to climb. Kaiba went up first, but just as Kinou began to climb after him, Yami Marik straightened up and rushed forward, tugged her off the ladder and pulled her away from it. 

                "Seto!" Kinou shouted, reaching her hand out as he put her in front of him on his motorcycle and revved up the engines.

                Kaiba had already felt the tug on the ladder and was yelling at the pilot to stay with the motorcycle and to keep the ladder out. Marik's motorcycle came to life and began speeding away from him. Kinou twisted around enough to see the helicopter flying after them, Kaiba still dangling on the ladder. He yelled something at the pilot and the helicopter began to gain on them. Kinou tried to distract Yami Marik from this by turning back around and yelling, "Why did you do that?"

                "Because you are rightfully mine!" he snarled back in his now distorted voice.

                "You're talking about me like I'm some sort of object! I _am_ a human being, not some slave or lab monkey or—"

                "If you had gone with Kaiba, you would have been like a lab monkey in his facilities!"

                "No I—" she began, but she was cut short by Kaiba's shouting, which had suddenly become a lot closer. She twisted around again to see Kaiba feet from her, holding out his hand and yelling at her to reach for it. Yami Marik tried to swerve away from him, but Kinou practically stood up on the motorcycle to reach her arm out to Kaiba. Yami Marik continued to swerve and Kaiba was now yelling at her to jump. The motorcycle was going along at nearly 50 miles per hour, and Kinou shook her head and kept her arm high in the air.  She still couldn't reach, so she straightened her back as much as she could, putting one foot on the seat. Kaiba and his helicopter closed in and Kinou's fingertips were inches away from Kaiba's—when Yami Marik gave an anguished yell and swerved the motorcycle again, making Kinou lose her balance. 

                She fell. Kaiba caught her arm and her feet skidded on the ground before he hoisted her up the ladder. Kinou looked into Kaiba's eyes, and fainted.

*   *   *


	8. Kaiba's Mansion

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't posted for a while; I got really stuck on the climax of this story a couple of days ago and I really needed to just focus on it until I got over my stupid Writer's Block! What a coincidence, huh? Writer's block at the most important part of the story!!!! Heh, anyway, I'm kinda on a roll with it, so I stopped to post chapter 8!! Thank you all so very much for your reviews; they make me happy ^_^!!!  
  
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**8. Kaiba's Mansion~**

                "Sweetie, you need to drink this: it's a nice cold glass of water; it'll help you wake up," came a soft voice.

                Kinou opened her eyes to see a cheery-faced, plump nurse hovering over her. She sat up in her bed and shook her head to clear it, but that made her dizzy, so she lied back again. "Where am I?" she asked.

                "You're in good hands, dear," replied the nurse with a smile. "We're Kaiba's finest team of medical experts, in his excellently equipped hospital wing."

                " 'We'?" asked Kinou. "Where's everyone else?"

                "Oh, it's just my shift for now, it is rather late at night and the other staff had been monitoring you for a few hours already," she said, and she began to busy herself with tidying up Kinou's room.

                "Oh," said Kinou. She looked around the room: there were windows to her left that opened up to the city, its beautiful lights shining in. To her right there was a small table with some crackers on a plate, and her stomach gave a lurch. She reached out for one and noticed there was an IV in her arm; she yelled.

                "Why is there a needle in my wrist?!" 

                The nurse whirled around and bustled up to her bed. "It's all right, dear, that's just something that helps us keep your health steady."

                "But, I only _fainted_! Why do I need a needle in my wrist? I _hate_ needles! I _hate_ them!"

                She attempted to pull out the needle with her other hand, but the nurse held it back. "You mustn't take it out! Please, miss, there's nothing to be scared about! Please, calm down!" She held both of Kinou's hands and squeezed them gently. "I promise I'll get that out as soon as I am able, ok?"

                "I want it out now, please, I hate needles so much," Kinou pleaded. Her eyes were glassy with tears.

                The nurse, looked at her for a few moments, then sighed. "All right, but you can't tell anyone I took it out early. Deal?" she asked, winking.

                Kinou nodded, extremely grateful. The nurse hid her arm from view, and Kinou felt something pulling her skin slightly. "All done!" she said, holding up the IV.

                "Thank you so much—uh—I'm sorry what is your name?"

                "Just call me Lonu, dear," she replied kindly.

                Kinou sat quietly, rubbing her wrist where the IV had been, while Lonu straightened up the room a little more.  "Where's Seto?" she asked.

                "Oh, you know how he is; always working, whether or not there's a pretty girl lying unconscious in his hospital," Lonu chuckled, rearranging some flowers in a vase.

                Kinou blushed. "You're so sweet, I don't know how I'm going to make it up to you."

                "Oh, just come down and visit me sometime during your stay here, and that'll suffice," she said, winking again. 

                At that moment, Kaiba opened the door.

                "Oh, good evening, Mr.Kaiba, she just woke up," said Lonu, bowing.

                "Good work, Lonu," he said, nodding to her. He turned to Kinou. "How are you feeling?"

                "I think I'm well enough to go and sleep in a regular bed, I suppose, though this one is quite comfortable," said Kinou, stretching out.

                "Well, you can't stay there: it's reserved for hospital patients only. Besides, you already have a temporary room for you to sleep in while the guest suite is prepared; I'll show you to it in a moment."

                "Oh, well in that case, I'll get up," said Kinou, throwing off her bed sheets. She felt a draft, looked down, and realised she was only wearing a short hospital robe. She jumped back under the covers, blushing more than she ever had before in her life.

                Kaiba laughed. "I'll wait for you outside," he said, walking out and closing the door.

                Kinou glared at Lonu, who had been holding in silent giggles until Kaiba had left, and was now wiping tears from her eyes with her apron. "You could have warned me that I was wearing almost nothing! Thanks a lot, now I embarrassed myself in front of Seto!" She folded her arms and looked away.

                "Ohhhhhh," said Lonu, tiptoeing up to Kinou's bed. "Does someone have a bit of a crush?"

                "I didn't say that!" snapped Kinou.

                "Ah, but it's written all over your face, dear; you like him!" Before Kinou could say anything else, Lonu had put her arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear: "I can see where you're coming from; your secret's safe with me. You have more of a chance than I do, for sure! Now, why don't we get you some clothes?"

                She scurried over to a closet across the room from Kinou's bed and brought out her outfit and shoes, along with some shorts, a spaghetti-strap shirt, and a small, woolen shawl. "Those are for sleeping; I didn't think you'd want to sleep in jeans!" Lonu said when Kinou picked them up. 

                "Thanks," said Kinou, and she started to get dressed. 

                As she buttoned up her pants, something felt different.  Kinou looked down at her left pocket: it was empty. "Where's Emily?" she cried, looking at Lonu.

                "Who, dear?"

                "Emily! My cat! She was here, in my pocket and now she's not! Where is she? Where?" she ranted, becoming hysteric.

                "Oh, not to worry, she's right here," said Lonu, going back to the cabinet and taking Emily out of it. Kinou rushed forwards and snatched Emily out of her hands, holding her close. 

                "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't know you had such a strong bond with that little critter," said Lonu apologetically.

                Kinou sniffed and realised she had a few tears running down her cheeks. Wiping them away hastily, she reached out and put her hand on Lonu's shoulder. "It's all right, I'm sorry if I scared you or anything."

                "Not at all, not at all," said Lonu. "Before you go—" she held Kinou's hand up in both of hers, "if you ever have something on your mind, come and find me; I'm always on call, twenty-four hours a day, right here."

                "Thanks you so much, Lonu," said Kinou. She gave Lonu a quick hug, then walked out the door with the extra clothes and Emily in her hands. 

                Kaiba was leaning against the wall, looking bored. "What took you so long? I am a busy man, I can't wait around for little girls who don't know where their clothes are." Kinou blushed again and he started walking down the hallway. "Follow me, I'll take you to your room."

                Kinou hurried to keep up with him. A barrier of silence followed them for most of the way, so Kinou looked around at the various hallways and doors they passed. There seemed to be way too many to count, but one caught her attention: a small flight of stairs leading downwards into a narrow hallway. It was dark and dank, as though it hadn't been used in years and no one had bothered to clean it. There was no lighting, but from what she could see, there were carvings of dragons all over the walls, though most were partially covered by moss.  Kaiba took no notice of it as they walked by. After a few minutes of walking, Kaiba looked at the clothes in Kinou's arms and saw Emily clenched tightly in her hand. 

                "What is that? A voodoo doll?" he asked mockingly.

                "_Everyone_ says that, but she's not," said Kinou defensively. 

                "Where did you get it? It looks like it was thrown together by a six-year-old."

                "I made her!" said Kinou, extremely hurt. "She was the first thing I'd ever sewn together, so you can't judge me or her by that!"

                Kaiba made a noise of contempt. "I'd throw it away and make one that's at least worth looking at; one with at least both of its eyes."

                "She only has one eye because I didn't have another button," said Kinou, holding Emily up and looking at her left eye, which was just an X. "And I'd never throw her away; you wouldn't understand what kind of a bond I have with her."

                "And I thought you were mature for your age," sneered Kaiba. "Playing with dolls is for little children, not for teenagers who feel like making fools of themselves. Here's your room," he said, stopping in front of a door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my work." Without a backward glance, he swept down the hallway and out of sight.

                Kinou turned to her room, threw open the door, and sat down heavily on her bed, looking at Emily. _And I thought Seto being a jerk was cool and sexy… it hurts! _

                "He doesn't understand, does he, Emily?" she asked her cat. "You're not just some doll; you're family. We've been through a lot together; no matter where I am, you're always with me, and you listen to me more than anyone else will.  I love you so much, and I don't care what anyone says about you or me. I think you're beautiful, and no one can ever change that." She hugged Emily tightly, and placed her delicately on her pillow. 

                She looked around her new room. It was also completely white, including the carpet. There were windows across the room from the door, and one small bedside table stood to the right of her bed. There was no other furniture. _Bo-ring,_ thought Kinou.  _All rooms seem completely empty to me unless they are really cluttered. Maybe I could sneak a few chairs or something in from another room. _

She stood up again and put Emily in her pocket. Walking out of her room cautiously, she didn't see anyone else around. She walked to the next room over and tried the handle—it was locked. She tried the next door over—it too was locked. All of the doors she tried in her hallway were padlocked or locked from the inside. _Why am I suddenly reminded of Bram Stoker's Dracula? _she wondered anxiously. 

                "Hey!" 

                Kinou turned around to see one of Kaiba's guards running towards her. "You are not to go wandering around Mr. Kaiba's mansion!"

                "Why not?" asked Kinou.

                "Strict orders from Mr. Kaiba himself," replied the guard. "Would you like to walk back to your room, or do you have to be escorted?"

                "I can walk, thanks," said Kinou. "Wow, take a chill pill, Robocop." She briskly walked back to her door and glanced back at the guard: he was watching her intently, making sure she went into her room. She stuck her tongue out at him and closed her door, locking it.  

                _Well, that's stupid. Why won't he let me go anywhere? I'll get so bored in here with nothing to do. If anything, restricting me will make me even more anxious to explore. That's what I'll do tomorrow. Right now I'm too tired to resent anything… _She took Emily back out of her pocket and put her beside her pillow and changed into the sleep ware that Lonu had given her. She climbed into bed and was surprised at how soft it was.  She fell asleep instantly.

*   *   *

Say, would any of you like to see some pictures I've drawn to illustrate this story? It'll give it some life, I think, so let me know if I should start posting the links to them ^_^!


	9. Foreshadows

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I've been kinda busy and my dad's computer was being weird. Goodness I hate Imacs… Anyway, I'm going to try a suggestion from Stephanie to help the italics show up. Let's hope it works!!

Chapter 9~

Kinou was back in the dueling arena with Yugi, the many pokemon cards in her hands. She looked across the battlefield and saw the Dark Magician with all of his monsters, miniature-sized, on his shoulders. He said that they needed to give him the Millennium Puzzle before he threw his scepter at them. Yugi gave a heavy sigh and started taking off his puzzle. "Wait a minute!" she shouted, holding Yugi's hands. Suddenly, he turned into Yami Marik, who, in turn, grabbed her hands and picked her up and hung her over the side of the dueling arena, which had a Dark Hole card played in the middle of it. Kinou was yelling and crying out for help, but all had gone dark and she could only see Yami Marik, laughing as he watched her scream, knowing that he was the only thing keeping her from falling into eternal blackness. He let one of her hands go and she screamed and grabbed his other hand with both of hers. He shouted something, but he was drowned out by a louder voice: "Kinou! Kinou! Are you all right?" Yami Marik glanced upwards, then smiled cruelly at Kinou and said, "Enjoy your time with him, foolish girl, for I will be back to reclaim you soon enough!" 

                Kinou awoke suddenly, covered in sweat and shaking. Yami Marik's laughter was echoing through her mind when she realised the person was still yelling and pounding on her door. 

                "Kinou! Answer me! Are you all right?!" came Kaiba's voice.

                "I----I'm fine!" she gasped. Getting uneasily to her feet, she went and unlocked her door.

Kaiba looked relieved to see her standing. "Are you all right?" he asked, more calmly. "You were making a huge racket."

                "Yeah," said Kinou, running her hand through her hair. "I had a nightmare. I was—"

                "I don't want to hear about it," he said, suddenly stern. "I was making sure you weren't being attacked or kidnapped; I didn't leave my work just to hear some gibberish about the Boogie Man."

                "Work?" asked Kinou, and she noticed he was still wearing his overcoat. She looked up at him, sneering. "Do you ever sleep?"

                "Only when I need to and when there are no important projects going on," he replied, not laughing. "As it so happens, neither of these circumstances are fulfilled, so if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something right now."

                "Fine," said Kinou, and he turned abruptly and left. She stood in her doorway for a few moments before walking back into her room, closing her door behind her. Sitting down on her bed, she reflected on her dream. What had scared her so much? Her memory was fading quickly and all she could remember was that Yami Marik had been there. She struggled to hold onto any images she had left; yet every time she thought she had a good hold on one, it slipped away. She closed her eyes_. Damnit, I don't mind when I forget a stupid dream that makes no sense, but I remember this one being important; why forget now? WHY? _She clenched her fist and punched her pillow with all of her might.

                "Oh, sorry; am I interrupting anything?" came a small voice from her door.

Kinou opened her eyes to see Mokuba, the younger Kaiba brother, with a tray of food. He shifted uneasily when she didn't say anything, but she shook her head.

                "No, I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm just--frustrated."

                "I can sorta understand," he replied, coming forward with the tray and putting it delicately on the end table. "I thought you might like some food, since you've been through a lot and you looked exhausted when you first got here." 

                On the tray there was a big bowl of rice and some egg rolls, along with some orange juice and a full pitcher of water next to it. She looked back up at Mokuba, who was timidly watching her, as though waiting for her opinion. 

                "Thanks a lot, Mokuba," she said, smiling gratefully at him, and he sighed, easing his shoulders down to their proper height. Kinou looked around the tray and found a pair of chopsticks. Thankful that she actually knew how to use them, she began to shovel the food into her mouth, suddenly aware of how hungry she was. She completely forgot that Mokuba was still sitting on her bed until he sighed heavily. She looked at him over her bowl.  "Is something wrong?" she asked with a mouthful of rice.

                "Well.... I'm really not supposed to..." he replied uneasily, twisting his hands slowly. He didn't continue, so Kinou swallowed her food and put the bowl and chopsticks down. 

                "If you're not allowed to say it, then don't tell me, but if you are, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," she said coaxingly.

                He remained silent for a few moments, took in a breath--- and let it out. 

Kinou blinked. "Are you allowed to tell me what you want to say?"

                Mokuba nodded slightly. "I'm just not quite sure how to say it without saying something I'm not supposed to say." When he saw the confused look on Kinou's face, he elaborated: "I mean, I want to talk to you about something, but I don't think I'm allowed to say it."

                "Ah," said Kinou. "Well, again, if you can tell me, tell me. If you do let something slip, let me know what it is so that I don't go accidentally blabbing about it. You can trust me." She put her hand over his reassuringly. 

                He glanced up at her and spoke slowly, obviously picking his words carefully. 

"Well……..you aren't exactly……..the first—" 

                He suddenly stopped, glancing towards her door, which was still open. A guard had just walked by and had stopped at the sight of Mokuba. 

                Mokuba stood up. "Well, there's your food, let one of the guards know if you need anything else," he said hastily, and he walked out of her room; the guard shut the door behind him.

                _That's just great, _thought Kinou bitterly. _Right when I might have gotten some good information. Come to think of it, Seto never got the chance to explain to me exactly what was going on; I still don't know what my power is, how to use it, or why he wanted me here in the first place. Man I am so in the dark… _She looked over at Emily.

                "I'm sure you're just about as clueless as I am, Emily. What say we go exploring a little more to get our minds off it?" Putting Emily into her pocket and slipping her shoes on, she listened intently for any noise in the hallway that might suggest another guard coming by. When she heard nothing but silence, she crept to her door, opened it and closed it quietly, and walked out into the hallway. She already knew where she was going: the hallway with the dragons carved in stone. 

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Yay! It worked! Thanks a bunch Steph!


	10. Door To Mystery

                    Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for a while; computer troubles. I just went through this page and manually edited the html so that it wouldn't show up funny when I posted it, and boy did it take forever! Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!

**10. Door To Mystery~**

                    It took her a while to retrace her steps to it, but thankfully, she didn't run into any guards. Every once in a while, she tried a door that she passed, but, again, found none that would open. She finally made it, and began to walk slowly down the wet, cold stairs and into the hallway at the bottom. There was a large door at the end of it. As Kinou approached it, she stumbled: there wasn't much light for her to see. She stood up and found the wall, using it as a guide, her hands running over soft moss and cold, uneven stone. She reached the door and felt around for a handle. Running her hand along the door, it felt cold and smooth: it was made of metal. A small handle reached her fingertips and she grasped it firmly and pulled. The door did not give at all. She tried a few more times to pull on it, but she didn't make any more progress. Letting go of the handle, she stood for a moment, thinking. _Something's keeping me here, wanting to get through, but I'm also afraid to go in. What's the matter with me? Ok, nothing wrong with checking just a little bit..._

                    She grabbed the handle with both of her hands and placed her foot on the doorframe_. Ok, I can do this; there's nothing scary about wrenching open a rusty, cold, metal door at the end of a dark, deserted hallway...... Oh _God_ what am I doing here? I really should get back to my room before Seto finds out I left; he told me not to leave and go wandering about by myself! I'm going to be in so much trouble!  But....... I want to open this door so badly.... I don't know why, I just do. All right: one peek and then I'll run back to my room as fast as I can, ok? Ok. One.... _Her palms immediately began to sweat...._ Two...... _she clenched her fists tightly...._ THREE!_

                    Kinou pulled on the door and pushed with her foot with all of her might. The door moved ever so slightly, but not enough, so she kept tugging. With a loud grinding noise the door swung open just wide enough for her to slip through. She rested against the wall for a minute; her arms felt limp and lifeless. After catching her breath, she glanced at the now open door with a feeling of foreboding. There was no light coming from within it, and Kinou had to admit, with some frustration, that she had a fear of extremely dark places. But something was calling her into it, and she couldn't restrain the need to go in. 

                    Kinou took a few steps towards the door and stopped, listening. She could have sworn she had just heard a noise coming from the room, but she couldn't be sure. She held her breath, but still couldn't hear anything. _Maybe I imagined it. My mind does tend to do that when I'm freaking out about something. Yeah, that's it, there's nothing to be afraid of. _She let out her breath, suddenly realising how noisy breathing was. She was close enough to the door now to go through it, so she leaned forward slightly through the doorway.  She couldn't see anything, so she reached her arm inside and felt around the wall for a light switch. 

                    CRASH. 

                    Kinou screamed, and someone yelled out. 

                    "Who's there? Let me out, ya bastards! If I ever get outta here, I swear I'll make sure your mothers get your eyeballs swimming in your blood!" 

                    Kinou ran back down the hallway, shouts following her all the way. She didn't stop running until she had reached her room; she slammed the door behind her and threw herself against it, praying that whoever it was hadn't somehow followed her. She stood, tensed, for nearly ten minutes before someone softly knocked on her door, making her jump. 

                    "What do you want?" she called, her voice cracking. 

                    "N-nothing, I was just checking up on you," came a small voice. 

                    Kinou sighed heavily and relaxed. _It's just Mokuba....._ She opened the door slowly and attempted a weak smile. 

                    "You look really tired, maybe you should get some rest," said Mokuba. 

                    "Yeah, I probably should..." she muttered, staring at the floor. There was a long silence, then Mokuba finally spoke. 

                    "Well, um, I should probably go." 

                    Kinou nodded slightly to show that she had heard, and listened to his footsteps fade away. But before she could stop herself-- 

                    "Mokuba!" she shouted after him. 

                    He was almost at the end of the hallway, but he heard her and came running back. "What? What is it?" 

                    Kinou stared at him with her mouth slightly open for a few seconds and then bit her lip. She wanted to ask about the door, the room, the person inside it, but she couldn't, not if she didn't want Kaiba to find out she had explored the mansion. 

                    "Is everything all right?" he asked. 

                    She shook her head to clear it. "Yeah, fine, everything's fine, Mokuba. I'll see you later," and she went back into her room and quietly closed the door. 

                    * * *

                    Well, sorry it took me so long again ^_^; I'll try to post more often! I'm sure I'll be a master at html by the time I get done with posting this thing...


	11. The Truth Has A Price

                    So, I decided to post another chapter really fast, since someone said my last one was too short *cough*Stephanie*cough*. Anyway, I tried several times to post some links to pictures I've drawn from this story, but something's wrong with my computer or this website, because it simply refuses to post them! I'll figure out some way to let you all see them if you want... (Oh, and as a side note, this chapter is kinda PG-13, so watch out if you don't like stuff like that ^_^). 

**11. The Truth Has A Price~**

                Kinou was back on the motorcycle with Yami Marik and Kaiba was still hanging off of his helicopter, yelling at her to reach for him. She tried to stretch out her arm, but Yami Marik used his arm to block hers and hit a button on his motorcycle, which made them speed away from Kaiba. She could hear Kaiba's curses as they put more distance between them and his helicopter and saw him climb up the ladder; the helicopter turned around a stopped chasing them seconds later. Yami Marik gave a triumphant "Ha!" under his breath and slowed the bike down. They arrived minutes later at the house again, where the Rare Hunters were waiting for them. Kinou knew she couldn't fight them off, so she walked calmly into the house and up to her room with the Rare Hunters surrounding her. She looked around and saw Kantugo to her left and raised her eyebrows at him; he nodded ever so slightly, but he did nothing more.

                Yami Marik stayed in her room after the Rare Hunters left, and Kinou sat on her bed, not looking at him, anger pulsing through her like poison. 

                "I will tell you why you are here if you listen and look up at me," he said after a short while in the distorted voice Kinou had grown to fear.

                Kinou slowly raised her head and glared at him, but he shot his evil smile back at her, the Millennium Eye shining brightly from his forehead. "Good girl," he said, as though talking to a dog. "Now, you probably want to know what this power is that everyone has been talking about, don't you?" Taking her silence as a "yes", he went on. "When you were in your world, you had an extremely rare type of cell within your body called a reinoty virus. It mutated cells around it and spread its type of fluids eventually to your whole body. The fluids are not harmful, of course; otherwise you'd be dead by now. Kaiba knew this type of virus would become something more powerful when you were transformed, so he planned to bring you here to study you, find out what made you tick, possibly use you for some technological purpose—"

                "Okay, cut the background crap. What is the power thing inside me already?" Kinou cut in angrily, growing impatient.

                "--Which was what I was about to say: your power is telekinesis; the trouble is, you know not how to use it, whereas I do."

                Kinou was completely stunned. _Telekinesis? BS! _ "How do I make it work, then?" she asked him skeptically.

                "You will need a lot of training, but I will tell you the basics... _if_ you want to learn," he said, folding his arms and looking intently at her.

                "Of course I do!" she said defensively. "Tell me!"

                "Why don't we have some fun and try it out, since you're so eager?" Yami Marik said, smirking.

                This awoke mixed feelings in Kinou, but she nodded all the same. She wanted to see Marik's plan ruined when he discovered she wasn't telekinetic, but she wanted to see herself perform her unknown talent at the same time.

                "First," he began. "You must focus on an object. This should do nicely," he said, picking up a book and placing it on a small table in front of her. "Then you must clear your mind as well as you can, thinking of nothing but moving the object."

                Kinou thought hard, thinking and imagining the book lifting into the air; alas, the book refused to move. "It's not working," she complained.

                "That is because I have not told you the most important part," he said. "Your hands. Use them to lift it."

                Kinou held out her hands, acting like the book was right in front of her, and tried again. The book remained still.

                Yami Marik laughed. "You need to hold them with a certain form," he said, walking over to her and sitting behind her on the bed. He reached around her and held her hands in his, spreading her fingers apart and making them straight. "Now, try again," he said, moving her hands for her. She wished he wouldn't: it was making her uncomfortable, but she concentrated again. With a slight twinge in her forehead, the book slid across the table a few inches and she gasped in surprise.

                "There, now, that wasn't too hard was it?" asked Yami Marik. "With the proper training, you will be able to do that and much more without effort." 

                Kinou stared at her hands, amazed. He came out from behind her and sat instead to her side.  Kinou looked over at him. "What?"

                He reached forward and started toying with her hair, and she felt his hand touch the butterfly Kaiba had placed there; he pulled it off, staring at it, and Kinou shifted nervously. "I had not noticed this before. Is it a gift from Kaiba?" 

                She opened her mouth, but no noise came out; she couldn't come up with a lie for it.

Yami Marik smirked and said, "Well, I think you look much better without it," and with that, he dropped it on the floor and stamped on it with his foot, breaking it into tiny pieces. Kinou watched in horror, but when he finished, he put his hand under her chin, turning her face towards his. "You know," he said, taking in every inch of her with his eyes. "Even after I get what I want from Yugi Moto, I may just keep you here as my mistress." 

                These words frightened Kinou; she might never go back home, and she'd be here with Marik for eternity. Her thoughts were wiped blank when he leaned forward and began to kiss her. She tried to pull away, but he put his arm around her back and held her next to him. As he kissed her, he forced her onto the bed; she tried to kick out at him, but he held her legs down with his. He took his arm out from underneath her and held her hands above her head with one of his own. As he looked down at her, he ran his other hand down her side and began to undo her belt. He smiled sickly and leaned over her, the Millennium Eye shining brightly in the darkness, and murmured, "I'll certainly enjoy your stay here."

*   *   *

Don don don!!! Heh, ok, so I think I have an idea as to what to do about the pictures! Yay! I thought that since they won't show up here, I could just send the links to those of you who want them. My email addy is catgurl_mew@yahoo.com, so if you want to see the pictures, just email me and ask for the links^_^. 


	12. No Longer Safe

Whoopsies! Heh, I kinda forgot you guys don't have the same knowledge about this story that I do. Steph kindly pointed out to me that there's no logical connection between chapters 10 and 11, so I'm posting 12 right now, because it holds the link between the two, trust me ^_^. Sorry if any of you were confused out of your minds!

**12. No Longer Safe~**

            Kinou awoke with tears running down her face, her throat so tight she could barely breathe. Her whole body ached; it felt bruised from all of the hits she had endured wile trying to struggle against Yami Marik's force. All was quiet and dark in her room; she could only see things about a foot away from her face. At the slightest noise, she would draw the covers over her head. She could not go to sleep anymore, not with dreams that became increasingly vivid and painful.  _It was only a dream, but everything felt so real, especially the……_ She couldn't bring herself to think it, it was too horrible to think about. She felt unclean, no matter how hard she tried to tell herself it was just a dream. 

                _Just the _feeling_, God damnit; I hate it! I've never had a dream like that… I could feel everything. There's no way my mind could have done that. What if I check everything just to prove it didn't really happen? That's a good start… don't know how the hell it will help, though. _

She sat up, still clutching her blankets to her chest, wrapped around her, and winced: the area between her legs was extremely sore. _Ok, don't panic, you probably just strained something when you were running away from that hallway earlier. Ok, now what do I check? I don't think anything changed in that dream. I need to talk to someone…badly… and Emily won't help at all this time; she only can help when I need to bitch about someone I hate. Wait! Lonu! She told me to come to her if I needed to talk; oh thank God. _ 

                Kinou stood up and pulled her pants on over her shorts; only then did she let the blankets fall off of her shoulders.  She shivered: the sweat on her body was evaporating quickly in the cold night air, so she felt around on the floor for the shawl. When she had found it, she grabbed Emily from her pillow and started towards her door, wrapping it around her shoulders tightly. About halfway to the door, she stepped on something sharp and gasped in pain, hopping off of it. She couldn't see what it was, so she got down on her knees and felt around on the floor until her hand reached it and she held it up to see it better. It was the butterfly that Kaiba had placed in her hair—and it was smashed to bits. Kinou reached up and frantically felt around her ponytail for it, hoping that it wasn't the same one that Yami Marik had broken in her dream. When she could not find any trace of the butterfly in her hair, she dropped the broken one and dashed out of her room. 

*   *   *

There! It was a dream! Or was it? *evilchuckle* You'll just have to keep reading to find out!!!!


	13. Pain

Well, I'm really glad to hear from a few of you that you wanted to see the pictures; anyone who has emailed me will automatically get pictures from the new chapters, though there are only a few left that are from scenes that haven't happened yet. Heh, I sound like I'm selling something*sweat drops* so I'm going totally non-business-like right now and typing some gibberish. Sdfahfejaer. There! Ok, now that I'm done embarrassing myself, I'm going to let you all read chapter 13!

**13. Pain~**

Kinou did not stop running until she was at the hospital wing door; she stopped in front of it and began pounding on it, yelling. 

                "Lonu! Lonu! It's Kinou! Please let me in!"

            After about two minutes, Lonu opened the door, looking alarmed. "What is it, dear? Oh my, you're shaking horribly; here, come inside," she said, leading Kinou through the door.  They walked down the hall, towards Kinou's hospital room, and turned to the left into a smaller room.  Lonu sat her down on her bed and bustled out of the room to go make something. Kinou sat on the bed, not moving at all.  She felt somewhat comforted in Lonu's room; it had a soft light coming from the windows, which were open, letting in a light, warm breeze.  

                Kinou felt much safer when Lonu came back in with two hot mugs of hot chocolate in her hands, and even felt a little cheerful when she noticed what Lonu was wearing: a long, pink bathrobe and blue, fuzzy slippers.  Lonu handed her one of the cups and felt her forehead. "Now, what's the matter, dear? Something frighten you? Not feeling well?"

                Kinou sighed heavily. "I had a horrible nightmare… and… it felt real," she said, hoping Lonu would somewhat understand.

                "Oh," said Lonu, putting her mug down and holding Kinou, gently rocking her from side to side. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

                "Well, you know how I was almost taken by Yami Marik before Seto got me here, right?"

                "Oh yes, that story spread like wildfire around here," chuckled Lonu. "You're one lucky girl, I'd give anything to have a tall, handsome man whisk me off a speeding motorcycle to save me."

                Kinou smiled weakly. "Well, I dreamt I was still on the motorcycle and Yami Marik actually got me back to his house. He stayed in my room and explained why I was here and then… he….he…" She trailed off; she still couldn't bring herself to say it. 

                Lonu stopped rocking her and tilted her chin up. "He what, sweetie?" Kinou could not respond; she simply looked into Lonu's eyes and started to cry. Lonu's eyes widened, as though she suddenly understood. "Oh, you poor, poor thing," she whispered, hugging Kinou tightly.

                "I was so scared, and—it hurt so much…" Kinou whispered between sobs. "Before any of this happened—I had always thought about it… but not like that."

                "Hush, hush, dear, it was only a dream; you're safe with me now, there's nothing to fear." 

                "But," said Kinou sitting up. "It felt so real, I've never had such a vivid dream before, and—" she reached up into her hair. "There was a tracking bug in a butterfly that was in my hair; in the dream, he found it and smashed it with his foot… and when I was walking to my door to leave I stepped on it… and it was broken."

                "Oh, that could have happened some other way," said Lonu. "I bet it came out of your hair while you were changing and when you stepped on it, that's what broke it."

                Kinou relaxed. _That makes sense._ "I still don't believe that none of it was real. I have felt things in dreams before, like falling and sharp objects, but none like that."

                "Well, why don't you tell me what he told you, and maybe we can draw something out of it to prove it false," said Lonu.

                Kinou blinked. "Of course! I know what we can try! He told me that now that I was an anime cartoon, this cell thing in me gave me telekinetic powers! I can just try it, and if it doesn't work, it really wasn't real."

                "Oh wonderful!" said Lonu, clapping her hands together. "Ok, let's find something… how about my pillow? If you do happen to pick it up, you shouldn't be able to break anything." She laughed.

                Kinou adjusted herself and faced the pillow. She focused hard on it, but it didn't move. She breathed a sigh of relief. 

                Lonu was watching her intently. "Did you try it, dear?" Kinou nodded. "Well, it doesn't seem to be working; did you make it work in the dream?"

                Kinou nodded again, and suddenly remembered: he had told her to use her hands. She lifted her hands and looked at them, terrified.

                "What is it?" asked Lonu, confused.

                Kinou looked over at her. "In my dream, he showed me that I needed to use my hands and hold them—" she spread out and straightened her fingers "—like this, right before he…" She shook her head. _I can't think about that now. _

                Lifting her hands in front of her, she swallowed, hesitating. Lonu put her hand on Kinou's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't be afraid, dear, it won't work."

                Kinou focused on the pillow, held her hands steady—and felt a small twinge in her forehead. She gasped and withdrew her hands. 

                "It didn't move! There you go!" said Lonu, patting her on the back.

                Kinou shook her head again. "I felt something in my forehead, just like it did in my dream, but I stopped myself before I moved it."

                "Well, that doesn't mean you can still move it; maybe what you felt was just a little headache trying to ruin your evening."

                Kinou swallowed and held her hands up again. When she felt the twinge, she kept concentrating—the pillow moved towards her. 

                Kinou looked, horrified, at Lonu, who had gone pale. "Oh my…… oh dear oh dear…" she started muttering; she held Kinou tightly.  "Don't you worry, Kinou, you'll be safe here; I won't let anything happen to you." ****

                Lonu agreed to let Kinou sleep in her room until her nightmares passed, but after Lonu tucked her in and walked out of the room to the one across the hall, Kinou sat up. Sleeping was no longer desirable to her. She waited until she heard loud snores from Lonu's room to get up and stare out the windows. The city was extremely beautiful from here, and she entertained herself for a while by looking at the many flashing lights and stores. For some reason she could simply sit and stare out a window for hours without moving, yet anywhere else she could barely keep quiet and still. After a while, she got bored and tried to find something else to do. Emily was on her pillow, and Kinou picked her up and stared at her. 

                "Any ideas?" she asked hopefully.

                Emily remained limp in her hands. Kinou glanced around the room and saw her shoes near the door. She bit her lip, looked at Emily, and got them on. 

*   *   *

Oh, and just a little observation: has anyone else noticed that fanfiction.net hasn't been that great this week? It seems to me like it's been messing up a lot. This week it told me for several days in a row that the login section was disabled and to come back in a few hours; not to mention every time someone gives me a review (which are all very appreciated!!! ^_^), it sends me about 6 notifications for the same one by email. *sighs*I really shouldn't be talking about this here, it has nothing to do with my story after all. I'll post a couple more chapters tomorrow!


	14. Terry

And, without further ado, here is chapter 14! *fanfare music plays* Dah dah dah….. heh, ok fanfiction.net is being nice now, so I can post a lot this weekend, seeing as how I can't during the week ^_^.

**14. Terry~**

Kinou was back at the door at the end of the dark hallway, this time armed with a candle; it was the most she could find to light her way. Setting the candle down carefully, she prepared to wrench the door open. She was sweating again, but this time she was set: she wasn't going to run no matter how scared she got. The door was shut, so she pulled with both of her hands and pushed with her foot as she had done before. She pulled it open wider than she had before so that she could actually walk through without too much effort. She picked up the candle, walked forwards, and halted in the doorway. 

"Who's in here?" she called; her voice was steady, but her hand shook violently, throwing quivering shadows on the walls. No one answered, so she took a few small steps farther into the room. From what light the candle gave her, the room looked like a dungeon cell: the floor and the walls and ceiling were made of stone, and there was no furniture. Something was shining out from the darkness and she crept closer, holding the candle above her head. 

It was a cage. Kinou lowered the candle and looked at it: the cage went from the floor to the ceiling, and the bars looked relatively new, but they had dents in a few of them, almost as though whatever had been in the cage had tried to get out several times. The floor had some food scraps strewn about and looked extremely dirty. Kinou stepped right up to the bars and lifted her candle again to try to see the whole of the cage, but there was a dark corner in the back that the light could not reach. Something made a noise behind her and Kinou whirled around to see a small mouse scurrying away with a crumb of food. Kinou let her breath out and leaned her back against the bars. _There was nothing in here. Maybe whoever it was got taken out or something... Or, maybe the shouting was just a recording to keep people away... I don't know, the point is I was afraid of nothing, and I'm so glad I came back here to make a fool out of myself--_

Someone grabbed her around the shoulders and she dropped the candle on the floor, making it go out instantly. Before she could scream, the person put their other hand over her mouth and held her to the bars with a grip of steel. Whoever was in the cage spoke into her ear with a hoarse voice: 

"Listen, please don't scream! I don't want to hurt you; I just want to get the hell out of here. I'm sorry if that was you I shouted at earlier, but I thought you were the guys who originally put me here. Please, just don't run away like you did last time. Will you promise not to scream if I let you go?" 

Kinou was a little bit confused, but she nodded. The person took his hand off her mouth and his arm off her shoulders. Kinou turned around to stare at him, but since her candle had gone out, there was no light for her to see what he looked like. 

"Who are you?" she finally asked. 

"My name is Terry Kohert," he replied, his voice a lot more calm. 

"Terry? Why does that name sound familiar to me? I swear I've heard it before..." Kinou said. 

"Well, you probably haven't because.... Well, you'll probably accuse me of being crazy if I tell you why..." When he did not go on, Kinou stepped forward. 

"Believe me, I've had some crazy shit happen to me in the past few days, so just go ahead and try me." 

Terry paused. "Ok, well, it's sorta hard to explain, but... I was originally a teenager in the 3-D world; I wasn't always an animé cartoon. One day, I was just sitting at home by myself, when this animé dude comes outta nowhere and takes me back here and pushes me through this portal thing---" 

"You're kidding! That's exactly what happened to me!" Kinou cut in. 

"Really? Whew! What a relief! I thought I'd have to explain for hours!" 

"No kidding..." Kinou muttered. "Did you get the name of the guy who took you, by any chance?" 

"I wasn't really sure, actually." 

"What did he look like?" she urged. 

"Well, he was really tall, with some really funky black hair--" 

"Black hair? Oh, then I guess we weren't taken by the same person..." said Kinou sadly. "Wait a minute!" said Kinou suddenly. "I just remembered where I heard your name before! It was back when I was at home, right before I was taken... You were the missing teenager I heard about on the news when I was flipping channels--" 

"They had a report on me?" he whistled in amazement. "Never thought my parents would care enough to file anything about me. I could have _died_ and the only reason they'd ever even care is to get sympathy from friends and other family members. Sympathy _presents_ more like..." he muttered. 

"I'm sorry," Kinou said. She never quite knew what to say to people who had bad families, since hers was normal enough. 

"It's ok, not your fault." said Terry. Kinou _hated_ it when people said that to her. Whenever she said sorry, she meant she was sorry that things turned out that way for someone, not "sorry I put you there". "Hey listen, I really need to get outta here. Look over there, will ya?" 

Kinou couldn't exactly see where he was pointing. "Where? My candle was kind of the only source of light..." 

Terry reached out and held her hand, guiding it to her left. "There should be a bolt right over here; can you feel it?" 

Kinou's hand felt an enormous lock. "Yeah, wow they must have really wanted to keep you in there." 

Terry paid no attention. "Feel around it; there should be a small metal pipe leading away from it. Follow it with your hands and tell me when you reach a box-like thing." 

He let go of her hand, and she found the small pipe. It went down to the floor, so she crouched and shuffled sideways along it until it reached the wall and turned upwards. "Ok, I have the box, now what?" 

"There should be two large buttons and a small one. I'm absolutely sure one of the large ones is a security trigger, but the other one unlocks my door." 

"You don't have any idea which one?" asked Kinou exasperatedly. 

"No, they always stood in front of it when they pressed either one." 

"Then how do you know it's the big ones? It could have been the small one that they were pressing!" 

"I know because I watched their arm movements. The little one is towards the bottom, and their arms were never at a downward angle when they were pressing either one." 

"Ok, but we're still taking one hell of a risk. You're sure you have no idea?" 

"No, we'll just have to take our chances. Just.... _pray_ or something! Go with your gut feeling!" 

"Right, so no pressure..." muttered Kinou. 

She didn't have any faith in praying, so she simply put her hands over the two buttons and tried to focus. _But on what? Feeling energy? I guess the most I can hope for is the right guess._ She closed her eyes.... and pressed the button on the left. 

There was a loud clunk and then the sound of creaking metal: she had pressed the right one. 

"Great! Whew, I was really worried," said Terry, and Kinou heard him open the door to the cage. "Well, we should probably get going." 

"Yeah," she said. They walked out the door and out of the hallway. Terry groaned and shielded his eyes when they reached the top stair. 

"Man, I never thought I'd hate light," he said. "I'd been down there for at least a week; I guess my eyes got used to it…" 

Kinou turned and looked at him, and immediately noticed the resemblance to the picture of the real Terry she had seen on TV. His hair was ruffled and brown and his eyes were a pretty green. He was almost at her height, but slightly taller and he had his left ear pierced. _He's even cuter in anime form,_ she thought. He glanced at her sheepishly. "That candle light really didn't do you justice." 

Kinou blushed. "Thanks." She cleared her throat. "So, uh, we'd better find a place to hide you; we can't really escape since this place is huge and all the doors I've tried are locked." 

"As long as it's a well-lighted place, I'll be happy," he said. 

"I have a room a ways away from here, and a room in the hospital wing. We could go to either—" 

"There you are! Why aren't you in your room!" someone shouted. 

Kinou whirled around to see three guards approaching. She turned back to Terry, only to see that he had disappeared. One guard grabbed her shoulder and roughly pushed her against the wall. "You were strictly told not to go wandering about the mansion! We have orders to escort you to your new place in the guest suite. Now come this way." He held her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction of her temporary room; she looked behind her to see Terry peering out from the dark hallway. He smirked, gave her a little salute, and ran. 

*   *   *

*comes running in* Whoa! He left! Hee hee, ok I'm obviously in a semi-weird mood right now, so I'll just leave off here by saying that for those of you who want to see the oh-so-cute Terry, I have drawn a picture of him, so email me if you want to see him or any of the other scenes I have. My email addy is in the tailnote of chapter 11. Ja' ne!


	15. Another Home

*sigh* Well, Steph has threatened to not post until I post, so I'll post this chapter and I might post one more tomorrow; I'm not so sure yet… It's really late so I'm sorry if this seems brief and…..oh man I must be really tired I couldn't even come up with another adjective…

**15.Another Home~**

The guards surrounded her all the way to the guest suite; the one that was holding her arm and did not once relax his grip. After they got her into the room, they locked the door from the outside. _Well, that's just perfect..._thought Kinou, staring at the floor with her hands in her pockets._ Now what am I going to do? I'm really going to be bored now. God he is so STUBBORN!_ She kicked a chair, stubbing her toe badly. _Ouch! Argh, that didn't help in the slightest... Wait a minute! A chair!_ She let go of her foot and stared around the room. 

It was enormous: the ceiling was at least twenty feet high and a huge bed, also with a canopy, was at the head of everything. A few couches and a couple chairs were randomly placed around the room, a desk with a mirror attached on the top stood nearly in the middle of it, and a Persian rug covered most of the floor. A closer look at the bed revealed that the comforter, to Kinou's disappointment, was pink. Turning to her right, she saw tall windows with elegant blue draperies slightly drawn over them. Moving one of the draperies aside, she saw that she was on ground level, and was looking at a beautiful courtyard, lighted by paper Japanese lanterns. She could vaguely see the first lights of dawn creeping over it. 

Kinou looked back at her new room, impressed_. If only I could change that awful pink thing._ She picked up a corner of the comforter and looked on the underside of it: it was blue-purple. _Oh! My favourite colour! Great!_ Flipping over the comforter, she noticed there were at least eight different pillows at the top of the bed._ Honestly, I don't understand why people see the need to do that; I only need one._  She pushed all of them except for one onto the floor. _There! Now I'm set... what to do? Wow, I'm bored already... I feel hyper all of a sudden; maybe I can just release for a little while, maybe do something childish. _She looked at the bed, smirking. She kicked off her shoes, climbed onto it, and started jumping as high as she could, occasionally falling on her back to bounce back up again. After nearly ten minutes, she fell on her back and caught her breath, marveling at how much fun she was having. Before she got too comfortable, she stood up again and jumped some more. 

"Enjoying yourself?" 

Kinou twisted around in midair to see Kaiba standing with his arms folded near her door. "Oh yes, I love this bed; it's way nicer than the one in my other room," she said casually, continuing to jump. 

"I heard you were out exploring earlier when my guards were sent to your room," he said, watching her bounce. 

"Yeah, so?" she asked. She realised how much fun twisting around was and started spinning around as much as she could. 

Kaiba glared at her. "I specifically gave you an order to stay in your room." 

"Well, I thought it was a stupid order, so I ignored it. I'll admit I am easily amused--" 

"I can see that..." murmured Kaiba. 

"--but being stuck in a room with nothing but a bed and a small table? Come on, what am I? 'Little miss non-adventurous excited about being locked in a boring room'?" 

Kaiba merely walked over to the windows and peered out of them, drumming his fingers on the windowsill. Kinou got tired from talking and jumping at the same time, so she fell heavily on the bed, sat up, and crossed her legs. "Why do you want to keep me in one place, anyway?" she asked. 

Kaiba did not look at her. "I have my own reasons; I don't see any reason why you need to know." 

Kinou rolled her eyes and lied back heavily on the bed. "You annoy me, you know?" Kaiba turned to face her; he crossed his arms again and leaned against the window frame. "Yeah, you do. First you allow Marik to do all the work of bringing me here, then you take me here and forget to tell me why, _then_ you keep me in the most boring room on the planet and don't tell me why either. I might add, I found out why I was here through a nightmare that scared the hell out of me!" 

Kaiba smirked. "A dream? Dreams are never real or truthful. Do amuse me and tell me why you think you're here." 

"I'm telekinetic." 

"Well, I'm impressed, I'll admit. But--" he pointed his finger at her, reminding her very much of her father. "I still want you to stay in here unless you are being escorted by someone, do you understand?" 

"Fine, I'll go along with that, but at least I want somewhere I can go to entertain myself for a little while; can you do that for me?" 

"Well, it depends. What do you do to entertain yourself?" 

Kinou thought. "I play music. Do you by any chance have a piano hall in this huge place?" 

"As a matter of fact I do," he said. "Though it hasn't been used for quite some time now; it will need to be cleaned." 

"Well, what a coincidence! I clean when I'm bored as well! So, just leave some cleaning stuff in there and I'll dust everything and when I get tired I'll play music. How does that sound?" 

Kaiba smirked. "I'll get to pick your music, then." 

"As long as it's not light and happy, I'll be glad to play whatever you have. Slow and beautiful, or in a minor key in 6/8 time would be my preferences. Chord progressions would be nice, too." 

"I'll see what I can do." He walked back across to the door and opened it. "At least one guard will be at your door at all times, so let one of them know whenever you feel like going to the piano hall." He shut the door behind him. 

Kinou smiled. _Wow, was that Seto being nice? I feel special. _She suddenly realised how sleepy she was, so she crawled under the bed sheets. Moments before sleep settled into her mind, she prayed silently to the night that Yami Marik would not visit her in her dreams again. 

*   *   *


	16. The Doctor

Whew! Ok, here's the next chapter; I suppose I'll need to tell all of you that I can really only post on the weekends so that's why it seems to take me a while to update; however, I have no reason to doddle since I finished this story this week! Yippee! I'm so happy!! It's 26 chapters total, so be sure to watch on the weekends when it's my posting time  ; ). 

**16. The Doctor~**

                Kinou awoke a few hours later when she was half-blinded from the sun shining into her eyes through the windows. Thankfully, she hadn't dreamt anything while she slept, and she didn't feel a need to sleep anymore, so she got up. Sitting in front of the mirror, she was happy to discover that her hair was still up in a ponytail and it looked the same as it had when she had gone to sleep; she always hated having to redo her hair in the morning. She noticed that there were small drawers in the desk, so she sat down in a chair and opened each one. Almost all of them had makeup in them, so Kinou entertained herself by trying some on and seeing how girly she could make herself. Makeup was never something that Kinou liked, and she hadn't put any on in a very long time, but she still remembered how to properly apply everything. Smirking, she used a little shortcut she had learned from her mother by trying some different colours on her hand to see which looked the best. She ended up putting on some light pink blush, some smoky eye shadow, and some dark pink lipstick. She laughed, thinking how ironic it was that her least favourite colour was the colour that looked the best on her skin. 

                Someone knocked on the door and she turned around and called, "Come in!" Kaiba walked through the door and laughed when he saw her. 

                "You're releasing your inner girly self; how cute."

                Kinou turned around and stared at herself. "So? I was....... bored. Why are you here so early?"

                "I would like you to meet someone who will be studying you for the next few days."

                "Studying me?" she asked, turning around and sniggering. 

                "That was the whole reason why I brought you here," he replied.

                "Ok, fine, I'll meet this friend of yours, but first let me get this horrible stuff off," said Kinou, starting to look through the drawers for some remover.

                "I'll be waiting for you outside; don't take too long," he said, turning and walking out. 

                Kinou searched around and finally found some moist towlettes to take the makeup off, and after removing everything but the blush, she met Kaiba out in the hallway and they began walking in the direction of the hospital wing. 

                "So, who is this person, exactly?" Kinou asked. "Is he a doctor or a psychoanalyst or what?"

                "He is a very experienced doctor I had the fortune to run into on one of my more recent trips. You'll find out more when you actually meet him," said Kaiba in a tone that said the conversation was over.

                They went into the hospital wing and Kaiba stood leaning against a wall while Kinou sat down to wait for the doctor. He came in after about five minutes and Kinou stood up. 

                "This is Doctor Tanurah, the man who will be studying your power," said Kaiba.

                "Nice to meet you," said Kinou, holding out her hand.

                Doctor Tanurah shook her hand with both of his own, smiling. He was very tall, nearly as tall as Kaiba, with flyaway black hair, and gentle grey eyes. "I'm so glad I finally get to meet the famous Kinou," he said. His voice was soft and deep, and Kinou found it comforting. 

                Kaiba walked over to the sign-in desk and sat down at a computer. "I'll wait here and continue working until you have finished, Dr. Tanurah."

                "Thank you, Mr. Kaiba," said the doctor. He turned to Kinou. "Well, I just have a few simple, easy tests to administer to kick this off, so follow me if you will." He walked down a hallway and into a room to the right. Kinou went in after him and sat down on a bed attached to the wall. He basically administered a simple checkup: he shined a couple of lights in each of her eyes, took her blood pressure, listened to her breathing, and tested her reflexes. As he was putting away his stethoscope, he said, "Now, we just have one more and you'll be done for today, all right?"

                "Okay," said Kinou. He rummaged around in his cabinet and turned around with a tray that had tools for taking a blood sample. Kinou brought her knees up to her chest and flattened herself against the wall behind her. "Oh no, no way are you coming near me with all of that stuff! I'll just come in here the next time I prick myself when I'm sewing up my cat, I promise! Just don't prick me with a needle and take my blood, please?"

                Dr. Tanurah chuckled. "I'm afraid I have to take this now, Kinou. Were you by any chance talking about the cat that's hanging out of your pocket?" he asked, gesturing towards Emily.

                Kinou pulled her out of her pocket and looked at her. "Yes, I have to redo her stitches every once in a while."

                "May I see her?" he asked, holding out his hand.

                Kinou hesitated; she always felt uncomfortable giving Emily to other people. "I promise I'll be careful," he said gently. Kinou reluctantly put Emily into his hand. He held her up, smiling. "This is adorable; where did you get her?"

                Kinou sat up. "I made her," she said proudly.

                "Well, I love her; I've never seen a cuter doll," he said, handing her back to Kinou.

                "Thank you," said Kinou, grasping Emily tightly in her hand. _See?_ she thought to her cat. _I told you Seto was just being a jerk._

                "Well, if there were a way to take a blood sample without using needles, I'd do it. Can't you just trust me when I tell you I'll be as gentle as I can?"

                Kinou sat, looking at the floor. She took a deep breath and held out her arm.

                "Good, good," said Dr. Tanurah. He began to sterilize her arm and she pulled back again.

                "Wait, you're not going to take it from my finger?" she asked.

                "Of course not," he said, laughing. "You're much to old for that."

                "But—" she put her hand on her arm—"I've never had a blood sample taken that way before. The last time I got one they pricked my finger."

                "Well then, your doctors treated you like you were 10."

                "I _was_ 10 the last time they took a blood sample."

                Dr. Tanurah blinked. "Well, again, I just need you to trust me. I will make this as quick and painless as possible, I promise." He held out his hand, and Kinou swallowed hard and put her arm out again. 

                He held her arm and swabbed the inside of her elbow with alcohol. When he picked up the needle, Kinou suppressed a sob and looked away. Dr. Tanurah paused and squeezed her arm gently. She felt the tip of the needle touch her skin and she squeezed Emily in her other hand and kissed her, tears welling up in her eyes. As the needle went in, her breathing became quicker; she could feel Dr. Tanurah pulling the back of the needle, taking her blood with it. She began to shake violently, and Dr. Tanurah quickly pulled the needle out. "All finished! Excellent job, Kinou," he said, putting a band-aid on her.

                Kinou finally turned around and spotted the needle, which was now a dark red. She looked at her arm and noticed that it was red around the band-aid. Dr. Tanurah turned to her and handed her a tissue, making her realise that she had tears running down her face. As she dabbed at her cheeks, he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "You did very well, Kinou. I'm proud of you." 

                Managing a weak smile, she stood up and put a hand on the wall to steady herself: her knees were trembling. The doctor put his arm around her waist and helped her out of the room and into the waiting room, where Kaiba was still sitting in a chair, typing something. He looked up, turned off the computer, and stood up. "You look like you just had your leg amputated," he said, smirking. 

                "She had to face one of her greatest fears just now, Mr. Kaiba," said Dr. Tanurah, looking at Kinou. 

                Kaiba laughed. "Let me guess. Needles? Little thin pieces of metal that can be snapped in half with two fingers? I don't understand people like you."

                Kinou looked at the floor. She wanted to just tell him to shut up and leave her alone. Dr.Tanurah tightened his grip on her. "Mr. Kaiba, she is not in the mood to be mocked right now." 

                Kaiba turned and began to walk towards the door. "Watch your tone, doctor. Remember, I'm the one who hired you and I can easily change my mind whenever I want. Come on, Kinou, we're going."

                As he walked out, Kinou looked up at Dr. Tanurah. "You didn't need to do that."

                He took his hand off her waist and put his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe so, but I felt the need to. I'm sure that if he had seen your body language in there, he'd have a little more sympathy."

                "Well, thank you," she said, managing a full smile.

                "You're welcome. Well, better not keep him waiting." He took his hands off of her shoulders. "I'll be seeing you twice a week after this, and I'll try not to give you too many shots." He winked.

                Kinou nodded and walked out. As they began walking back to her room, she asked, "So, if you're too busy to hear about a nightmare of mine, then how come you have so much time to walk me from place to place?"

                Kaiba did not answer her, so she shrugged her shoulders and kept walking, rubbing her hand over the band-aid. When they reached her room, Kaiba paused just long enough to say in an oddly strained voice, "That should be the only blood sample he has to take; he'll have enough information from this one." He then walked away without a backward glance. Kinou watched him, confused. A guard next to her doorway cleared his throat. "You need to go inside your room now," he said, sounding as though it was the only thing he ever practised. Kinou looked at him. 

                "Actually I want to go to the piano hall, if that's all right," she said hopefully.

                The guard pursed his lips. "Ok, I shall accompany you down there. Follow me." He turned and walked down the hallway. _He sounds like a robot_, Kinou thought to herself, following him and suppressing a few giggles.

*   *   *

Now Kinou has a guy friend! Now altogether everyone *raises a cue card* Awwwwwww! So, I have two more pictures for you all: Anyone who wants to see Terry or Dr. Tanurah email me at catgurl_mew@yahoo.com and I'll send them to you. A little hint of warning though: everyone who's seen Dr. Tanurah has gone absolutely goo goo over him, so just be careful ^^.


	17. Comfort At Last

Yay! I'm posting again! *everyone claps and cheers* Thank you, thank you ^^. This chapter definitely has more feeling put into it than any other in my story because the room I describe in here is something that I'd love to have; I tried to be as descriptive as I could because I wanted every detail down to share my dream room with everyone ^^. Have fun; the chapter after this is when all the exciting plot twists start happening!!!

**17. Comfort At Last~ **

                The guard led her down only a couple hallways before he stopped at a large double door.  Kinou stood next to him for a couple moments, but he just stood there, not speaking. She peered into his face, confused, and asked, "Well? Can I go in, or are they locked?", half-expecting him to come to his senses and open the doors for her. 

                "Yes," he replied curtly. When he still did not move, Kinou rolled her eyes.

                "Hell," she said, and she pulled the doors open herself. As the doors swung apart, she gasped. The hall was more beautiful and magnificent than anything she had ever seen in her life. The grand piano was directly in the middle of a wide depression in the middle of the floor with stairs leading down to it.  The rest of the hall was draped in fancy tapestries with all sorts of beautiful pictures on them; planets, stars, animals, some with simple designs intricately weaved through the threads. On the wall opposite the doorway there were slender, tall windows with great red draperies pulled out of the way near their tops.  In the centre of the wall, there was a gigantic fireplace with a magnificent mantelpiece. Though there was not a fire lit, it seemed to radiate its own light from the gold-coloured paint covering it. In front of the fireplace, two wide couches faced each other with a claw-footed table in between.  

                Kinou walked into the room, astounded, and the guard pulled the giant doors closed behind her with a loud creak. She could hear him turning a key in the lock, but she didn't care. This was heaven for her. It was large enough to hold a small house, and there were several padded chairs in the style of some she had seen in therapist's offices on which she could easily sleep. The only things she would ever need would be food and water and Emily. 

                Kinou took Emily out of her pocket and held her up above her head. "Look, Emily, look…" she murmured. Smiling, she looked up at her cat, and caught a glimpse of the ceiling, almost causing her to drop Emily in amazement.  It was simply a dome, but it was painted with silver and gold clouds, and a wide disc hung from the middle of it, which Kinou knew would rebound the sound of the piano through the whole hall. She turned her attention to the grand piano once again and stepped towards it anxiously, though she was slightly hesitant to disturb such a wonderful splendour. After coming down the steps into the depression and sitting on the piano bench, she sat for about three minutes just staring at it. It appeared perfectly dusted, as was everything else in the hall; Kinou suspected Kaiba had just simply asked his staff to clean it for her. She reached out a finger and placed it, quivering, above middle C. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath and let her finger fall delicately on the key. 

                The sound was amazing; it reverberated though the hall, filling every square inch with its fine-tuned ring. She played a C scale and it too sounded like a work of art, even though it was the simplest thing she could think of to play.  Her hands stretched out and poised over the keys; she was amazed at how insignificant and imperfect they seemed, now that she had a real piano to play.  She knew she had to warm up to at least come close to the high standard the piano had set in her mind. Practising was really nothing she liked to do, let alone scales or chords or arpeggios, but she felt it was her duty to make this wonder sound the best she could. Her fingers began to delicately stroke the keys as she recalled all the warm-ups her piano teachers had ever given her. If she made a mistake, she would draw her hands back as the horrible sound echoed into nothingness, and would apologise mentally and try it again until she got it perfect.               

                The warm-ups took her nearly ten minutes to reel out, but now she was ready to really play. She started playing a simple song she had learned when she was eleven, and her mind went completely blank. Struggling to remember it, she couldn't grasp which notes to play when. Instead she shook her head slightly and played a song that she had actually played within the last two years, and her mind went blank again—but not from the song. She continued to play and she could not think of anything she would rather be doing. The wonderful song flowed through her fingers, through the hall, and back into her open ears like silk, and for the first time since Marik had come to kidnap her, she felt complete and utter happiness. Nothing could bother her now. Someone could come barging in and she would not notice nor care who they were. She opened her eyes and was surprised to learn that the song had ended and the last chord was slowly fading. Wanting to play again for the wonderful feeling that was so absent in her life, she debated quickly about which song to play next. An idea struck her: she could play the three songs she had composed on her measly electric piano back home. Practically writhing with excitement, she placed her hands eagerly over the keys again, for she had never heard these pieces on such an honourable instrument before.  Her first song came out: she had written it to sound like a king's welcoming into a great castle, and with the flawless echo, it brought it to life.  She nearly made a mistake beginning the second piece, for she was so pleased by the sound of her first, she couldn't wait to make her other two sound better than they ever had before. After her second, she prepared herself for her final piece. It was by far her favourite and everyone she had ever played it for had called it her best and requested it to be played again and again. As the music began to flow out, she shivered with pleasure, the sound was so intoxicating to her.  She closed her eyes in the middle and images swam through her mind as chord after beautiful chord sounded. At the end, she sat, frozen, amazed at how she felt. She dropped her hands on her lap, exhausted from the thrill she had experienced. It took her a couple seconds before she realised someone was clapping. 

                She slowly turned around to see Dr. Tanurah sitting on a chair, beaming at her with a genuine smile that brightened her mood even more. He stopped clapping and stood up to walk down the stairs towards her, keeping that wonderful smile upon his face. He stopped beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.

                "That was wonderful, Kinou," he said, squeezing her shoulder gently. "I'm extremely glad that your necklace fell off in my office—" he held out her golden bird with his other hand; Kinou reached up to her neck and noticed how bare it felt without it"—otherwise I would have missed out on some very pretty music."

                "Thank you," said Kinou, taking the necklace out of his hand and fastening it around her neck once more. "I didn't hear you come in at all; I must have been really focused."

                Dr. Tanurah laughed. "Yes, music does that to people a lot. May I ask what that last piece you played was?"

                "Oh, just something I composed about a year ago," said Kinou, shrugging.

                "Really? You wrote that? I'm extremely impressed," he said, and he truly looked it. "It was one of the prettiest pieces I've ever heard."

                Kinou blushed. She mumbled a thank you, not knowing what else to say. 

                "Will you play it again for me?" he asked.

                Kinou looked up at him and marvelled at how handsome he suddenly had become. He gave her a really warm feeling, but she shook her head to drive new thoughts now spreading through her mind. "I—I don't know… I really tired myself out. I think I should take a nap or something." Hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings, she gave a small yawn and stood up, stretching. She noticed how comfortable the couches looked, and she picked one on which to settle down. Curling up, she instantly felt drowsy, but she was still awake enough to sense Dr. Tanurah coming up to the couch.  He kneeled down beside her and she rolled over to look at him. He brushed her bangs out of her eyes and gently stroked her cheek. Kinou could hear the heat rushing to her face, but…she loved the feeling of his hand, so she closed her eyes.

                "This must be hard for you," he murmured, tilting her chin up gently. She opened her eyes again. "Being taken away from your home just so some person can experiment on you. When someone has a special gift, they should be rewarded, not captured like a wild animal and put on display." Kinou felt tears welling up in her eyes and she closed them again, feeling that she was being too soft. Dr. Tanurah gently picked her up from the couch and held her close to him; she could hear his heart pulsing against his chest. She reached up with one of her hands and grasped the collar of his lab coat, letting silent tears roll down her face. 

                He walked across the hall and back through the double doors, Kinou realising how exhausted she really was, and his warmth was inviting sleep into her mind. By the time he had brought her to her room, she was asleep. 

*         *         *


	18. Discovery of the Traitor

Ok, I'm posting again! This is where all the excitement begins! *points to the chapter title* Big cliffie, no? Hee hee. Enjoy reading! It's kinda gruesome, but I'm sure none of you will mind ^^.

**18. Discovery of the Traitor~**

                Kinou was walking down a deserted pathway that seemed to go on forever. There was no light for her to see anything around her beyond five feet, and it was cold. She rubbed her hands together and watched her breath rise in small clouds. The end of the pathway could not be seen, nor the beginning, and Kinou felt extremely lost. She decided to keep walking to keep her body heat up, so she started walking in a random direction, but made sure she stayed on the path. Suddenly, a blood-curdling yell rang out through the darkness, scaring Kinou half to death and making her stop abruptly and stumble. Turning around quickly, she checked all around her, but she couldn't see anyone in the darkness. As the yell faded away, Kinou heard a man start to cry out in pain, and she could still not see any maker of the noise. Others began to yell as well; every so often a man would grunt and the one in pain would yell out again. Putting two and two together, she began to run down the pathway, hoping she could reach the man before he was beaten to death. A dim light faded into view in front of her, and the screams of pain got louder. She ran faster, praying she could save him… as the light became brighter, Kinou realised she was looking into the living room of Marik's house. The scene that reached her eyes made her gasp out in fright; she clapped a hand to her mouth, hoping no one in the room had heard her.

                Kantugo was laying in the middle of the floor in a pool of blood, surrounded by the other Rare Hunters and Yami Marik. The Rare Hunters had stopped hurting him, and he was still alive, for Kinou could see his back rising unevenly in his weak attempt to breathe. Yami Marik was holding his Millennium Rod at his side with a cruel smile twisting his face. 

                "Did you honestly think you could get away with this, you fool?" he sneered at the limp form at his feet. "It was only a matter of time before something about you leaked out; we now know you were the one who helped the girl escape, and there's nothing you can do about it." He kicked Kantugo in the side and he rolled over, exposing his bloody face to the ceiling. "You will be sorry you ever came here. Get him up," he ordered the Rare Hunters. 

                Two roughly picked him up and set him upon his knees. He teetered dangerously, but he steadied himself and stared defiantly up at Yami Marik. His breathing became louder and slightly more even, but he was still having trouble; Kinou suspected at least one of his ribs had been broken. Yami Marik smiled even more widely and raised his Millennium Rod.

                "Now, I'll ask you again: Where is she?" When Kantugo did not answer, he struck Kantugo in the side of the head with his fist. Kantugo fell onto his side once more, propping himself up with one hand while the other clutched at his face. "You realise that if you do not tell us, you shall be sent to the Shadow Realm, and we'll find her anyway through some other means, don't you? If you tell us now, I may decide to spare your pitiful excuse for a life."

                Kantugo looked up and glared at Yami Marik with the utmost hatred burning in his eyes and replied, "Go to hell."

                Yami Marik smiled darkly and shrugged his shoulders. "So be it. You're better off gone anyway. I'm sure your beaten corpse will make a fine trophy for me." He raised his arm right as Odion came barging in.

                "Master!" he shouted, as several Rare Hunters rushed forward and pushed him against a wall. "Stop this madness! I know you're in there! Fight him, Master!"

                Yami Marik stared at Odion for a few moments and then paused, as though he were listening to something. He started to laugh to himself and finally looked back at Odion. "Your master's attempts were very feeble, I don't even know why you encourage him. Now where was I?" He said, turning back to Kantugo, who was still glaring at him. He raised his Millennium Rod once again, and Kantugo sat up straight and stared right into the Millennium Eye upon the rod as Yami Marik tightened his grip on it. Kantugo slowly tilted his head back and opened his arms up before him; there was a flash of light and all the colours in the room turned negative for a second before Kantugo toppled over, lifeless. 

                "And as for you, servant," said Yami Marik, stepping over Kantugo's body to talk to Odion, as though nothing had happened. "I won't lock you up like I did last time you tried to help that weak master of yours, I'll simply banish your master from my mind so it won't matter what you try to do." He smirked at the look of shock that had spread over Odion's face as he stepped back slightly and spread his arms out to his sides and closed his eyes. His face twisted into a grimace and his chest suddenly lurched out and a strong beam of energy flowed out of it. It came straight for Kinou and she cried out as it hit her full-fledge in the chest and exploded in a flash of white light. The light soared into her open mouth and deep within her body as the ground on which she was standing disappeared beneath her and she began to fall. She jerked and twisted in midair as the light continued to rush through her. A loud cry escaped her lips as her body gave one final violent thrash and she woke up in her bed.

                Sitting up, she realised her heart was pounding painfully against her rib cage and she was panting. Putting her hand to her forehead, she noticed it was actually dripping with sweat. She hastily wiped her bed sheets over her face to soak up most of the moisture before jumping up and running out of her room, screaming for Kaiba, not noticing she had a fresh band-aid upon her arm.

*         *         *

Ok, now I have something important to tell all of you. *inconspicuously moves behind a chair and crouches behind it* I won't be posting for about two weeks *crouches down more as things are thrown* My mom's gonna be going to Canada next weekend, therefore making it impossible for me to post _properly_(my dad has an Imac XP; I HATE those!!!!). So yeah just keep hanging onto this cliffie and sit tight for a little while ok? Until then, I have a piccy from this chapter—it's when the beam of light hits Kinou. If you'd like to look at that while you're waiting, let me know ^^. Thank you all sooooo much for your reviews! 


	19. Accusations and Suspicions

Yayness! I'm back at my mom's, which means another postie! This one is extremely long so make sure you have time ;). 

**19. Accusations and Suspicions~**

                Surprisingly the guard that was supposed to be at her door wasn't there, so she was able to run out without interruption. Her yells echoed down the empty hallways, and a guard quickly found her. He tried to get her to go back to her room, but she would not budge until he showed her to where Kaiba was. With some apprehension, he agreed to show her to his office, but said he wouldn't dare go in with her. She thanked him and followed, occasionally asking him to walk faster, annoying him greatly. Kinou saw a fancy door and began to run towards it. The guard yelled after her that she was making a mistake by disturbing him, but she ignored him and he hastily left. 

                Kinou burst into the office. "Seto! I just—"

                She stopped short, shocked. There were a lot of people in Kaiba's office—including Kantugo. She stuttered, pointing at him. "Wh-What? How is it you're here now? I just saw Yami Marik kill you!"

                Kantugo gave her a confused look, and Kaiba stood up from his desk. "Kinou, what the hell are you talking about?" he asked dangerously. "Why aren't you still in your room, jumping on your bed or putting on makeup or whatever else you do in there?"

                All the people in the room chuckled softly at his remark, and Kinou flushed. "I just had a dream that Kantugo was discovered and..." she bit her lip, realising how stupid she must sound. "That the Rare Hunters beat him up and when he wouldn't tell them where I was, they—"

                "Kinou, I'm standing right here," interrupted Kantugo. He sounded somewhat different than what she remembered...really different. "No one found me out; I just left of my own accord. We were searching for where you might be and I simply broke off from the group and told them I'd go looking by myself. As you can see I'm in perfect health, unless you're going to tell us that Marik somehow made a copy of me without any injuries and sent me back?"

                More laughing rang through her ears, and she half-whished she had never left her room. "I'm sorry, I just.... got scared I guess."

                "Oh, poor little baby," cooed Kaiba, and even more laughter rang through the group.

                Out of nowhere, Kinou blacked out. No sounds reached her ears; nothing lit up the darkness all around her. After looking around, she raised her hand and gasped, for it was semi-transparent. Looking down, she couldn't see what she was standing on; she was simply... free floating in space. Before she could figure out what was going on, she woke up. 

                She blinked as Dr. Tanurah's face came into focus right above her. She was sprawled out on the floor, and he was pinning her arms down; her hands were completely spread out like they had been reaching out for something. Her cheek stung and she grimaced at the pain suddenly rushing to her senses. Shaking her head, she asked, "What happened?" 

                Dr. Tanurah's face slackened slightly and his eyes widened. "Kinou, what do you mean?"

                "I mean I've no idea what just happened and why I'm down here. And why does my face hurt?"

                He looked up at Kaiba in disbelief. Kinou tilted her head back to look at him as well. Even though he was upside down from her point of view, she could tell he looked dishevelled, and he was panting. She looked back at Dr. Tanurah and asked again with a slight tone of apprehension. "What happened?"

                "You attacked Mr. Kaiba," he said, looking as if she was confusing him beyond reason. 

                Kinou laughed in a rather high-pitched voice. "Why the hell would I do that?"

                He shook his head. "We have no idea, your eyes just sort of rolled back for a second and then you yelled and rushed at him. He had a really hard time fighting you off; you were thrashing around and hitting him with everything you had. He finally slapped you in hopes it would knock some sense into you. A little too hard, though," he said, glancing at Kaiba again. 

                Kinou blinked up at him with her mouth open. She was beginning to feel afraid. "I—I don't know what—"

                "I think you can let her up now, Tanurah," said Kaiba, stepping forward and rubbing his right hand.

                Dr. Tanurah took his hands off her arms and she sat up, putting a hand to her cheek. It was swelling slightly, and the surface was extremely sensitive to her fingertips. She tried to stutter out that she had no idea what she was doing, but nothing came out of her mouth. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she ran out of the office so that no one would see her. 

                She did not stop running until she had reached her room; by the time she got there, she had stopped crying, but she was terrified. As she closed the door behind her, she leaned her back against it, reflecting. _I blacked out and attacked Seto? They wouldn't try to make up something like that; there'd be no point._ She walked up to her mirror and peered into it. Her left cheek was bright red and for the first time she realised there was a slight taste of blood in her mouth. She pulled out her cheek with her finger to gaze into her mouth, seeing a small trickle of blood issuing from the back of her gums. _Wow, he must have hit me really hard to make that happen. Why though? He could have just... I don't know pushed me away or something... He could have tackled me and then I'd wake up to him right over me. That would have been better_. She shook her head. _I need to stop dwelling on him. He doesn't like me; I need to realise that. I should focus on more important things._ It took her a moment to remember why she had gone to his office in the first place. _I saw Kantugo killed in Marik's living room; I_ saw _it. And I have to be honest with myself, the past few dreams have given me truth... _She shuddered. _He sounded different, though. I mean really different. Why didn't they all notice it?_ Thinking hard, her eyes widened as the simple reason popped into her head: _Because they haven't seen him for so long. Seto told me he went to join the Rare Hunters at least a couple of months ago._ "Those idiots!" She pounded the dresser with her fist and then put her head in her hands. A slight grunt made her look back up again instantly. She turned around warily and glanced around her bedroom. All was still, and even after waiting for nearly a minute, tensed and silent, nothing moved or made a noise. Assuming she had just imagined it, she turned back to her mirror. She leaned forward, squinting at herself. Her room looked interesting from the mirror's point of view, and she became slightly distracted as she began looking around behind her, staring into the mirror. Something moved in the corner and she whipped around to see Terry getting up from behind her bed. 

                "Terry?" she asked in disbelief, standing up.

                "Hey babe," he said sheepishly. He stepped out and walked up to her, smiling. "I just woke up from a quick nap. You all right? You kinda ran outta here screaming. And what happened to your cheek?"

                "Well, I really don't know, but apparently I went berserk or something and attacked Seto—" she stopped and raised an eyebrow at Terry. "How do you know I ran out screaming?" She looked over at the bed and then back at Terry a few times before clapping a hand to her mouth; she stepped back a few feet and pointed at him with her other hand. "You mean you've been--?" 

                Terry put his hands up. "I was only hiding there for a little while! Honest! I didn't see anything!"

                "How long have you been there?" she yelled, taking her hand off her face.

                "I came in when you were sleeping; right before you had the nightmare thingy."

                "You came in because...?" she asked, gesturing with one of her hands to get him to elaborate.

                "Because—well, you......" he trailed off, obviously not having a decent reason. Kinou could tell he was thinking fast. 

                She narrowed her eyes. _He just thought he could sneak into my room for safety, did he? _She folded her arms and waited for a response.

                "Because.... well, when I saw those cronies taking you away, I thought I'd find you to see if you were all right, ya know? So I wound my way around for a while and found this place."

                She simply stood in front of him, staring at him and watching; his eyes never met hers. "And why didn't you wake me up when you got here?"

                "Well, because I wasn't sure whether you'd want to be woken up. You looked so peaceful just lying there."

                Kinou did a mental eye roll. _My God, he'd be better off telling me the truth. What kind of suck-up excuse will he come up with next? He'll probably say something like "I love you" just to get me soft. Well, I might as well have some fun with him._ She forced herself to smile at him. "That's so sweet of you. You'd think you have a crush on me or something."

                Terry stopped smiling and stared at her. "I never said that."

                "Well, it wasn't that hard to figure out; you gave some pretty good clues to me," she said, stepping closer to him. 

                He seemed to be getting very nervous and he glanced around for an exit. "But—but—how did you get crush from all of that?"

                Kinou shrugged as she kept advancing on him; she knew before long she'd have him trapped and then she would pounce. "My mind is complicated. You'd be surprised at all the things it figures out."

                Terry finally backed into the wall and flattened himself against it. Kinou walked right up to him and peered into his face. "It figures out when people are lying, and believe me, it catches every one." Terry gulped and looked straight back at her with what he thought was a straight, determined face. 

                "I don't know what you're getting at," he claimed.

                Kinou broke her focus and stopped smiling at him. "What do you mean you don't know?" she yelled. Terry jumped at her sudden outburst. "You just sat there and let them take me away right after I saved your sorry butt from that cage and offered to help you hide—"

                "Hey! Hey! If I had said anything, they would have taken me and locked me up again!" he retaliated defensively.

                "Oh, so instead you decide to give me a little thanks-for-nothing salute? Great choice, you must be wonderful with the ladies," said Kinou sarcastically.

                Before Terry could say anything else, a soft knock interrupted them. They looked at each other, and Kinou quickly lifted up her bed sheets and Terry dove underneath them and tried to make himself as flat as possible. 

                "Come in," called Kinou, hastily sitting back down at the dresser. 

                Dr. Tanurah quietly opened the door and stepped inside. "Are you all right?" he asked after looking at her worriedly for a few moments. 

                Kinou nodded and he came over to her with a small first aid kit. "Why were you yelling? Something disturb you?"

                Kinou thought fast. "I was just so frustrated at how everyone acted back there, making fun of me and all."

                "That's perfectly understandable," said Dr. Tanurah. He opened up his kit and took out some supplies and placed them on the dresser, Kinou silently thanking that he hadn't heard Terry's voice as well. He put on a glove, asking her to turn her bruised cheek towards him. Her skin had turned a light purple now, and she reluctantly let him prod at it gently to check for serious damage. He sighed, taking off the glove and turning to pick up an ice pack he had taken out.

                "He really did a number on you. Just a small hit would have sufficed, but... I can't really blame him with the way that you were attacking him. It's like something flared up inside you and you lost control over everything." He handed her the ice pack and she gingerly pressed it against her cheek. The coldness stung her; wincing, she forced herself to keep it on, knowing it was the best she could do to keep it from getting worse. Dr. Tanurah watched her some more, and bit his lip, like he wanted to ask her something. She looked at him.

                "Let me guess: Why did I do it?" she asked. He nodded and she sighed. "Well, I'm not sure the answer I'm going to give you will do anything, but—" she stopped, wondering whether he would believe her. _If he doesn't, he'll think I'm crazy and put me in the psychiatric ward or something, and if he does believe me, that just means more tests on me to make sure I don't have a split personality disorder... But if I'm in a ward, I'll get out of here, and they'll ask me questions for hours on end about all these crazy dreams I've been having... But with more tests, I'll get more shots... but they have shots at psycho-wards too..._Dr. Tanurah reached out and put his hand on hers, jerking her out of her self-battle. 

                "I'm not one to judge; I'll admit I feel like doing that to people sometimes. Whatever you tell me, I'll keep to myself if you want." He smiled, making her feel slightly more confident about talking to him.

                "To be honest, I really don't know what happened. I don't remember anything about attacking him or when he hit me... I just remember blacking out for a while, and then I woke up on the floor with you holding me down." Glancing at Dr. Tanurah, she hoped he would understand; to her immense relief, he didn't look skeptical. 

                "I was wondering why your eyes rolled back right before it happened," he said, nodding. "Sometimes people mentally forget what they're doing when they are feeling an extreme emotion. In your case, it was anger. I think you just lost control of yourself; you really didn't mean to hurt him deep down."

                Kinou relaxed slightly. "I certainly hope you're right. I would never dream of hurting Seto."

                Dr. Tanurah grinned at her, and she blushed slightly, having revealed to yet another person of her obsession. "You're so cute," he said, rubbing her head with his hand and standing up. He picked up his things, placing them back inside the box, and started walking towards the door. "We originally had an appointment today, but, considering what's just happened, I think it can wait until later. Come down to the hospital wing if you feel like getting it over with, or need another ice pack—" he paused with his hand on the doorknob. He shrugged and looked back at her. "—heck,  just come up with a reason and come down whenever you want."

                Kinou laughed and waved as he closed the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps faded away down the hallway, Terry reappeared, his face white with shock. He stumbled over the rug on the floor as he rushed over to her. His voice shook violently as he grabbed her shoulders roughly and stared into her eyes with his wild ones. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he whispered harshly.

                "Terry, let go; you're hurting me," pleaded Kinou, trying to get out of his grip.

                He shook her. "That's the guy that took me! That's the guy that kidnapped me and transformed me into _this_!"

                Kinou's eyes widened in shock. "Dr. Tanurah? What the hell are you talking about? Let go of me already!" She pushed his arms off her.

                "Really hard on the ears, aren't you?" he shouted at her. "I'm saying he was the guy I told you about who came into my house and kidnapped me and took me back here!" He emphasized all of his words with violent hand gestures, frightening Kinou slightly. "What kind of bullshit has he been telling you? Has he told you himself that you're not the first that's been taken here?"

                "For your information, he has not been telling me bullshit; he's been giving me the moral support that's been keeping me from going insane in this hellhole!" she yelled back, furious at him for talking about Dr. Tanurah that way. "And, even if he was the one who took you here, whoopty shit, big deal! You came here before me; the only difference was the kidnapper! In fact, I've probably gone through more than you have, so don't tell me you were traumatized by your arrival, you—s—stupid—" she choked on her words, realising she was crying as flashes of her rape dream flooded her mind. Terry had clenched his fists while she was talking and he grabbed her shirt and pulled her on her tiptoes to stare her straight in the face. 

                "Don't you dare say nothing happened to me," he hissed at her through clenched teeth. "That freak lied about me to Kaiba; that big idiot didn't even realise I was here until he walked in on one of the doctor's experiments on me. He treated me like shit; he was planning to use me to take over this stupid game company! Then, of course, when Kaiba discovered you, hoh boy, were you the perfect little message from heaven for the doctor. As soon as you came in, I was just a piece of trash, and he lied again to conceal the fact that he—"

                Kinou slapped him so hard he let go of her shirt. He stumbled back a few steps, Kinou standing up straight with tears still in her eyes, though they were now from anger. "You think you can just barge in here and insult me, Dr. Tanurah, and Seto with your lies? Barge in and use my room, my place of safety, as your hideout? Get out! I never want to see you again! Never!" She thrust her finger out to point furiously at the door; it was trembling with the anger pulsing through her with a fiery passion. "GET OUT!" she screamed again, and Terry glared at her for a few moments before turning and walking swiftly to the door. "I hope they catch you and throw you back into that dungeon; you don't deserve even that! I hope you rot away down there!"

                Terry turned back to her at the door. "And I hope Dr. Tanurah hurts you even more than he did me; then you'd realise what a fucking large hole you've dug yourself into by trusting him!" And with that, he shut the door with a snap. The guard was still not at her door, so she listened to Terry running down the hallway in the opposite direction that Dr. Tanurah had left. 

                Kinou stood in the middle of her room, her finger still raised. She was panting and her throat hurt from screaming so much. Nothing she could remember measured up to the anger and frustration she was feeling now. Finally dropping her arm limply to her side, she sat down on the floor, brooding. _Why would he say things like that? Maybe he just had some resentment against Dr. Tanurah and he couldn't stand that I was friends with him. That's it. He was jealous, that's all. Making up lies to make me mad. Well, it won't work. I'm just going to play in the piano hall. That always makes me feel better. _

                She stood up and walked to her door, threw it open, and walked to the piano hall. The double-doors were still unlocked, so she pulled them open to see the spectacular hall once more. She instantly felt more at ease, and as she ran towards the piano, she realised there was some music upon its stand. _Hmm, I guess Seto wasn't upset enough to forget my music,_ she thought, sitting down and staring at it. It looked simple enough, so she began to sight-read. As it was her habit to just play straight through with hardly any stops the first time, she had a hard time discerning what the piece actually sounded like. Though, as she progressively worked out the knots and hard parts, she could hear the wonderfully dark lullaby that played above the minor progressive chords in the background. At one point stopped to tap out a line she was having trouble with and heard some shuffling papers coming from behind her. She twisted around to see Dr. Tanurah sitting in one of the chairs with a bunch of large files piled around him. He looked up when she stopped tapping and smiled at her. 

                "I hope you don't mind; I find working easier when I have something to listen to."

                "Oh it's fine," said Kinou. "I really like this piece; I'll be working on it for a while, I'm sure. Just to make sure I have all of my anger and what not out of me."

                "Well, that's good. This is actually my favourite piece as well; I was the one who put it on the stand, hoping you'd find it and try it out at some point."

                "That's great; I thought it was a little weird that Seto would put this on here. I just got really frustrated with what just happened and I definitely needed some sort of an outlet. Music is the best one I have aside from Emily," said Kinou, sliding her legs around the other side of the bench to face him. 

                "Emily; is that the name of that cat of yours?" he asked.

                Kinou nodded and patted her left jean pocket confidently—it was empty. "Oh gosh! I'll be right back; I left her in my room," she said, getting up and rushing to the doors. When she reached her room, she couldn't find Emily anywhere. She panicked, pushing nearly everything out of her way to look. Whipping off the covers and sheets on her bed revealed no sign of her cat either. Her search went on for nearly five minutes before Dr. Tanurah showed up and came in. 

                "Is everything all right?" he asked, tentatively.

                Kinou stood up from digging in the dresser drawers to stare at him incredulously. "What does it look like?" she yelled. 

                "I'm sorry, would you like some help?" he hurriedly corrected himself. 

                Having finished her search of the dresser, she sat down heavily. "No, she's not in here; I've looked in every possible place." She looked up at him, her mouth extremely dry. "I'm sorry.... I—I just—" She was having a hard time speaking, for her breath was catching in her throat in short gasps; she felt like she was having a panic attack. Clasping her knees to her chest, she cried out, "Oh Jesus, Emily! Where are you?" No tears came to her eyes, but she rocked back and forth, shaking more than she could ever remember. 

                Dr. Tanurah walked over to her and put his arm around her comfortingly, though it didn't help her at all. "I'm sure you just left her somewhere; we'll find her."

                Kinou said nothing, allowing herself to be cradled by his warmth. She thought of the last time she had Emily; every little place she had been, remembering every time where Emily was. Her mind reached the piano hall. A faint memory of holding Emily up to see the room flashed before her eyes; she remembered having her in her pocket when she fell asleep... Her head snapped up as she realised what had happened. She clenched her teeth and made tight fists with her hands, inhaling a lot more air than she needed. "Terry, you bastard!" she cried out. "Where is she?" She stood up, pushing Dr. Tanurah's arm off of her. Her voice echoed into nothingness, and when she did not hear any sign of an answer, she put her face in her hands, whispering. "You cruel, cruel, evil..."

                Dr. Tanurah had suddenly stood up and swooped in front of her. "Kinou, who's Terry?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

                She looked up at him slowly. He looked strange.... he didn't look scared; he looked concerned, maybe even a little bit angry. She answered him all the same. "Some guy I found locked up here," she muttered, not really wanting to go into the matter.

                He cursed. "What has he told you?" he asked sternly.

                He was scaring Kinou slightly, the way that he was holding her in place; like he never would let go until he knew everything. "He—he told me that he was also taken from his house... That he was kidnapped by someone and taken back to be pushed through the portal... that he went through everything that I did." Tanurah did not respond; he just stared at her like he knew she wasn't telling him everything. Biting her lip, she added the last bit she was willing to tell him. "He told me you were the one who brought him here."

                Tanurah sighed, releasing her shoulders slightly. "Yes, I remember Terry," he said grimly. "He was our first person to be tested for powers such as yours. Feisty little one he was, though," he added with some vehemence. "He really didn't like being here, but, of course, with the kind of people on the loose in the city these days, we couldn't just let him go free. And we hadn't devised a way to change him back, either. Eventually, he went a little insane from being cooped up in here and we had to lock him away to keep him from hurting everyone who came near him. Real pity..." he let go of her shoulders completely and cleared his throat. "So, why do you think he was the one who took Emily?"

                Kinou sighed. "Because he was here when I got back from Seto's office. We were fighting when you showed up to clean up my cheek earlier. That's why I was shouting." She kicked the side of her bed. "I don't know _why_ I just left her in here after I had the nightmare. I know I had her in my pocket when you were taking me back up here from the piano hall; she must have fallen out or something while I was sleeping and he thought it'd be a funny idea to just go ahead and take her."

                "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

                "No."

                "Oh," he said, looking thoroughly disappointed. "Well then, I don't think we'll have any luck searching for him in this big place. Want to go back to the piano hall?"

                Kinou shook her head and folded her arms, leaning against the post of her bed. "It's not comforting if I play without Emily there."

                Tanurah sighed heavily. "You can't just stay here and soak in your sorrow, you know. People who do that whenever they get sad show immediate signs of depression; I don't want you losing your happiness."

                "And what would you suggest to get my mind off losing my best friend in the whole world?" asked Kinou, facing him with her lips drawn in a straight line. 

                When she saw Tanurah take a hesitant step forward, she thought she suspected what was coming. "We could go ahead and get your appointment for today done with, I suppose. I wouldn't be doing any check-up-type stuff or shots; we'd just focus on your power. Have you tried to use it yet?"

                "Once. Right after the nightmare that showed me how," she responded curtly.

                "I'm sorry you had to find out that way, Kinou, I really am. I would have preferred you heard it from Mr. Kaiba or me. Did you find out by yourself in the dream, or did someone show you, out of curiosity?"

                "I was shown." Kinou really didn't want to go further, but Tanurah asked another question.

                "Who, might I ask?"

                Kinou sat on her bed, looking at her hands. "Yami Marik," she replied in a whisper that trembled slightly.

                "Really?" Kinou looked up, surprised at hearing a slight edge of eagerness in his voice. "Did he tell you anything else?"

                She shook her head, still confused at him; his hands were clasped together. He realised what he was doing and hurriedly dropped his hands at his sides. "I'm sorry; I've been trying to get information on him ever since I found out what his Millennium Rod can do. Call it a scientific hobby," he said, chuckling.

                Kinou didn't laugh; she was still thoroughly confused, though she didn't feel anger anymore, so she stood up. "Let's go," she said, walking out her door towards the hospital wing.

*   *   *

Bum bum bum! Trouble's a-brewin'! It's Spring Break for me so I'll be posting a lot more!! Well, maybe, I'm not sure whether I should post too much at once.


	20. The Predecessor Revealed

Ok, sorry it took me so long to update, but here's the next chapter; it's quite possibly the longest one so far, so, again make sure you have time to read for a while ^__^. I haven't said this in a really, really long while, so: ARIGATO FOR YOUR REVIEWS!!!! *huggles all*

**20. The Predecessor Revealed~**

                Before they started working, Tanurah placed some electrodes on Kinou's temples to monitor her thoughts and brainwaves.  Kinou didn't mind them too much; they just felt like they were about to fall off half the time when they were securely stuck on her, something that nearly drove her crazy. As a safety precaution, Kinou was placed in a room by herself with some pillows and stuffed animals, while Tanurah observed her through a window in one of the walls. Standing in the middle of the room, she felt like only half a person without Emily in her pocket. Depression was on the verge of hitting her full-fledge in her mind as she thought of herself without her cat. It was as though she had lost a part of herself; she was incomplete. Tanurah interrupted her misery as he switched on the intercom.

                "All right, Kinou, we need to get started. Are you doing ok?"

                She glared back at him, as though to say, "What the hell do you think?" 

                "Kinou, I'm sorry you lost your cat, but we really need to get to work on this; I'm sure we're going to produce some interesting results. And I need you to focus on the task at hand; we'll go looking for it later."

                Kinou clenched her teeth. _It…. IT!_ she screamed inside her head. _SHE! Emily is a she damnit! …..Okay, calm down… the sooner I get this out of the way, the sooner I can go to find her._ She released her fists and took a deep breath to steady herself.

                As she stretched out her hands to lift one of the teddy bears, something felt different to her. She couldn't say what it was… it just felt…_new_. Like she had never tried it this way before. All the same, she focused her mind on moving the bear; with a twinge no different than before, the bear flew towards her, nearly hitting her in the head before she ducked out of its way. 

                While she held up her hands to the light to stare at them, Tanurah came over on the loudspeaker: "That was great, Kinou; I got some really good readings."

                Kinou looked through the window at him. "The last few times I've tried this, the object only moved about an inch or so; it's never moved like that before."

                "Don't focus on that now; I really need you to just keep your mind on using your power for now, ok?"

                Kinou shrugged and tried again, this time on one of the pillows. Once again it flew towards her with ten times the force as before, and she caught it. She looked back at Tanurah. "Can you teach me how to actually control what I do? I don't think I'll get very far just sitting here and playing catch with myself."

                He looked up from his papers and fixed her with a piercing stare. "I want you to stay in there until I have all the readings I need. Things like this take time; I can't simply snap my fingers with the answers. Just keep doing what you've been doing and I'll study my findings to figure a way to manipulate where the objects move, all right?"

                 Sighing, Kinou repeatedly made the objects fly towards her; after a while, she sat down and slouched until her elbows were nearly touching the floor in front of her knees. After nearly half an hour, she stopped and glared at Tanurah through the glass again. "Are you done yet?" she asked.

                Surprisingly, she couldn't see him behind the desk, so she stood up and walked up to it, cupping her hands around her eyes to shield out the glare. Kinou narrowed her eyes and her mouth opened slightly in bewilderment as she saw him: he was crouched on the floor with his fingers at his temples, and he was muttering non-stop to himself. Kinou hesitantly knocked on the glass to get his attention, but he did not look up or even acknowledge she was there anymore. As she watched, he appeared to be getting steadily angrier; his head lurched to one side and he started shouting. She couldn't hear what he was yelling since the microphone in the room was turned off, but she started to worry. Raising her fist again, she hit the glass a little harder, but to no avail; he kept shouting and she could see his fingers pushing harder and harder into his head. Realising that knocking on the window wasn't doing anything, she ripped the electrodes from her temples, threw them down and ran to the door of her room—and found it locked. She began pounding on it, shouting for someone to help. No one came for nearly five minutes, at which time she heard a heart-stopping scream. She ran back to the glass to discover that Tanurah had fallen over, unconscious. Someone threw open her door as she yelled out in fright upon seeing a small trickle of blood seeping out of Tanurah's ear. A guard stepped behind her and demanded to know why she was making so much noise. 

                "Dr. Tanurah! Dr. Tanurah!" she shouted at him, pounding the glass with her fists again.

                The guard looked over her shoulder through the glass and immediately ran from the room, shouting for more guards and hospital personnel. Kinou remained at the window, watching in horror as the door to Tanurah's room began to rattle; it seemed to be locked from the inside. She heard at least four other guards arrive and they all began to slam against the door. As the door gave way and swung to the side on one unbroken hinge, Lonu rushed up to Kinou's side. Other doctors and nurses swarmed in and picked up Tanurah to carry him away; Lonu pried Kinou away from the glass, leaving two sweaty palm prints from Kinou's hands on it. She gently led Kinou away from the shouts and commotion and into her room, shutting the door behind them. 

                Handing her a cup of hot chocolate, Lonu sat beside Kinou, looking extremely concerned. "Are you all right, miss?" 

                Kinou nodded vaguely. "I… I don't know what happened… We were just going through, him taking notes on my power while I tried it out."

                Lonu looked concernedly at her. "Do you have any idea as to what happened?"

                Shaking her head, she swallowed hard as the disturbing images flooded her mind, forcing her unwillingly to relive it. "I just looked through the glass and… I have no idea what he was doing. At first I thought his head was hurting him because he was crouched down and massaging his temples or something… Then he started shouting and looked like he was convulsing a little bit, too." She shuddered. "I was really scared; I thought of him as one of the most sensible people I'd ever met."

                "So did we all, dear," said Lonu, patting her hand. "So did we all."

                "I mean, he was so nice and I felt so safe around him. He knew exactly how to calm me down when he had to take a blood sample from me—"

                "Oh, I was wondering what that band-aid on your arm was."

                "My _arm_?" Kinou looked down at her right arm in surprise. "He took it from the inside of my elbow, not there…" She prodded at the new affected area and gasped out in pain. 

                Lonu immediately went to her right side and lifted Kinou's arm up slightly. "May I?" she asked, gently starting to lift the corner of the band-aid. Kinou nodded, and Lonu slowly pulled it off to reveal that Kinou's skin underneath was a grey-green colour.  

                "Ah!" yelled Kinou, holding her arm out like it was a diseased piece of road kill. "What the hell?"

                Surprisingly, Lonu looked suddenly furious. She fixed Kinou with a cold stare and whispered dangerously, "Did you ask him for this?"

                "For what? I don't know what the hell that is! I don't remember any shots or anything!" Kinou yelled.

                "Were you ever alone with him when you weren't paying attention?"

                Kinou made a noise of contempt. "No! I had only seen him in his office for the first appointment we had, and a couple times in the piano hall—" She stopped, remembering the first time she had seen him there. _He had carried me back to my room and I fell asleep on the way…._ She looked back at Lonu, who still looked angry and rather intimidating. "So what if he was there when I wasn't paying attention? What difference would it make if he gave me another shot—"

                Lonu cursed loudly and turned away to walk to a cabinet across the room muttering to herself. "Of all the stupid…. exactly what he did the last time… he didn't learn from the other one?"

                Kinou blinked, confused slightly. "What is it?" she asked, a little afraid of the answer.

                The nurse turned back to her with some gauze and antibacterial ointment in her hands. Kinou was startled to see that she no longer looked angry; she was now staring at her with the utmost pity and despair in her eyes. She came and sat down next to Kinou, placed the things in her hands delicately on the table beside the bed, and took Kinou's hands in hers. 

                "I really hate to be the one to tell you this, miss, but," She took a deep breath, and paused, as though she wished that neither of them were there. "A few months ago, before you were brought here, there was another boy who was brought to us. None of us knew about him at first because Dr. Tanurah hid him away when he came, but eventually Mr. Kaiba found him out. The boy had the same type of rare virus within his body, though it was a weaker variation of it, so his power was not as strong. Dr. Tanurah almost went mad trying to get the boy to strengthen his power, but I think he pushed him too hard, because the boy eventually gave up at trying to live up to the doctor's standards. So, Dr. Tanurah developed a liquid that, when injected into the bloodstream of someone like you or the boy, would help the reinoty virus regenerate into stronger cells, thus strengthening your telekinetic powers." She sighed and shook her head and her voice wavered ever so slightly as she continued. "Unfortunately, the doctor did not even think about the possible side effects before injecting some into the boy. It seemed to be a miracle at first—before the boy began to act extremely strange. He started having sudden outbursts that he did not seem to be able to control, and he attacked the medical staff several times while working on controlling his power. We all finally figured out that it was some sort of an alter ego that was surfacing and causing him to act out violently. And with further blood tests, we linked it to the solution Dr. Tanurah had given him. Before we could come up with a remedy, he attacked the doctor while they were alone together, injuring both of them severely. When we asked the boy about what happened, he started shouting delirious things about conspiracies and betrayals and fainted right then and there. So… we decided the best thing we could do was—was—" she choked slightly and dabbed at her eyes with a corner of her apron. "—lock him up in a cage and keep him there until we could figure out a cure for it. But then we were told to focus on you, for you had been discovered shortly after he was injected, and he was forgotten down in that cage. The staff and I still bring him food in there to keep him alive, but until you figure out how to use your power effectively, we have to ignore the fact that we just ruined someone's life when they were perfectly happy where they were…"

                Kinou remained silent, shocked. "What…. What was the boy's name?" she asked in a barely audible whisper.

                It took Lonu a moment before she responded, for she was crying a little bit.  "I believe it was Terry, the poor dear…"

                Her heart began to race. _That must have been what he was talking about… No wonder he freaked out so much when he saw the doctor…And I called him a liar,_ she thought as her stomach gave a horrible wrench. Lonu looked overt at her and put her hand on her shoulder.

                "Is everything all right, miss? I do hope I haven't frightened you; I just wanted you to—"

                "No, it's not that…" Kinou murmured. She looked at the nurse, guilt and despair clouding her mind. "I…. I found Terry a couple of days ago. When he saw Dr. Tanurah…. he tried to convince me that he was a bad man, and I didn't believe him." She put her hands to her face. "I kicked him out and called him a liar." A dry sob escaped her lips as she began to pour out her feelings. "I—I didn't want him talking about Dr. Tanurah that way; especially after he came to clean up my cheek.  And… I was really starting to like him, but now…" She began to get angry. "This isn't fair! Nothing is going how it's supposed to anymore! People are messing with my head, hurting me in my dreams, I'm being scared to death by everything that happens… and… and… Emily is missing. Without Emily, I don't feel like anything. I'm _worthless_." At that phrase, she could have sworn she heard something in the back of her mind… like an echo of a strange voice, but is was so faint she barely noticed it. "I… I feel…" She was shocked to hear the next words come out of her mouth. "…like dying." And the scary thing was, she really meant it. The echo in her mind became slightly louder.

                Lonu wrapped her arms around Kinou and squeezed her tightly. "Shhh, hush, dear, hush. Don't ever say that. You have your whole life ahead of you; we're going to get through this, you hear?"

                Kinou almost felt like laughing at Lonu. Kinou had always told other people these exact words and thought that she was helping.  With another jolt in her stomach, she remembered one of her good friends had tried to commit suicide and she had said that to him. _I should have tried harder…_ she thought. She sat up slightly to look at Lonu, who was close to tears again. 

                "Please, miss…" she whispered. "Don't let yourself go that easily… It was hard enough to watch this happen to Terry; someone I barely knew. If you really do…." she didn't finish her sentence, breaking down.

                Kinou watched as Lonu put her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. Her heart gave a little twinge and she snapped out of her self-pity. She gently put her arm around Lonu and rocked her from side to side, tears welling up in her eyes as well. Lonu buried her face in Kinou's shoulder and held her tightly.

                "Don't say things like that, miss, please… I don't know what I would do if you—"

                "Shh," whispered Kinou. She leaned over and spoke gently into Lonu's ear. "I promise I won't do anything like that. If I had my choice, I would rather die than stay here in this state, but I will stay here with you. I swear I won't do anything to harm myself. …" She hardly felt like promising anything, but, as though to reassure herself that she was being truthful, she added, "…I'll do it for you."

                Lonu simply held her tighter and continued to sob, though slightly more subdued. They sat for nearly ten minutes, not saying anything at all, and both felt somewhat relieved that they were with each other.  Finally, Lonu sat up and looked Kinou right in the eyes with determination. "We'll need to fight this together. I have a proposition for you: we'll work on controlling your power until you can properly work it; then we'll work on getting to the bottom of everything. Agreed?"

                Kinou sat for a moment, hesitant, but Lonu's determined tone and facial expression swayed her beyond a doubt. She grinned. "Let's do it."

*         *         *

Hope you all keep reading and reviewing!! Especially since I'm currently working on a sequel to this story! ^^


	21. Kantugo's Betrayal

Ok, another weekend has arrived, meaning another chapter! I'm in an extreeeeeeeemly happy mood right now so I'll just get on with it! (nice attention grabber for the title, no? ^^)

**21. Kantugo's Betrayal~**

                They decided to go back to the room Kinou was in earlier with Tanurah to begin working. Starting off, Kinou just worked on making things come to her; Lonu tried restraining the pillows several times, but Kinou always got them away from her with a couple of tries. After a long while, Kinou realised that controlling where the pillows went was as simple as turning her hands from side to side. If she wanted to move something left, she would make her left hand face down and parallel to the ground and leave her right perpendicular to it, and just the opposite for moving something to the right. Following that train of thought, she discovered how to move things up and down as well: by turning her palms up to the ceiling, the object would go straight up, and if she left one of her palms face up and turned the other down, the object would move sideways in midair. There still was the problem of how far the object moved, however. Kinou had no idea how to decrease the intensity of power she exerted, and the things would always have to run into something or she'd have to drop her hands to make them stop moving at a great speed. After nearly an hour, Kinou sat down, exhausted. Lonu was also very tired; she had offered herself for target practise, and had been running around the room while Kinou made pillows and teddy bears fly after her. 

                "I'm exhausted," said Kinou, falling heavily on her back and staring at the ceiling.

                "Me—too," gasped Lonu, holding her sides and leaning against a wall. "Goodness, I can't remember the last time I had run that much."

                Kinou laughed weakly; she was in a slightly better mood, but she still had a cloud of worry blocking out most of her thoughts. Closing her eyes, she thought of Emily… _We could have had so much fun… If she were here, I'd make her fly around everywhere, and she'd love it._ She rolled over on her stomach and rested her head on her arms, feeling drowsy. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard a knock on the door of the room. 

                "Come in!" called Lonu, straightening up and smoothing out her apron.

                Kantugo opened up the door. Kinou stared at him, not moving as he stepped in and glanced at her before talking to Lonu.

                "Mr. Kaiba has requested that the girl come to see him," he said.

                "All right, then, just give me a moment to—" began Lonu.

                "Alone."

                Kinou kept staring at him. _He's definitely not Kantugo. He's standing different, his voice sounds off-key somehow….and… he just doesn't seem the same at all, _she thought. Lonu gave Kinou a quizzical look before turning back to Kantugo. 

                "Well, then… I suppose she'll be going with you then?"

                "Yes," he replied shortly.

                "Why can't Lonu come with me?" Kinou blurted out. She didn't want to be left alone with him.

                Kantugo looked at her coldly. "Because Mr. Kaiba wanted to see you, and you alone. He needs to discuss something very important with you."

                "So why does he need you to walk me there?"

                "He wanted to make sure you didn't go running off. He knew you were going to be apprehensive about speaking to him after what happened, so he sent me to escort you."

                Kinou raised her eyebrow. _Something's not right here. Why would Seto want to talk to me? He's hardly gotten involved with anything, except for maybe walking me practically everywhere. _

                Lonu stretched. "Well, that's good 'ol Mr. Kaiba for you; doesn't trust anyone, that man. Come by and see me when you're done, Kinou, ok?" She walked out the door, yawning and muttering about a nap.

                Kantugo looked at Kinou. "Let's get going," he said, turning towards the door and starting to walk out. Kinou stayed on the floor.

                "Why should I trust you?" she asked coldly.

                He stopped at the door, but did not turn around. A short pause stretched out the silence already between them. "Because I helped you escape from that hell hole," he murmured.

                Feeling a little taken aback, Kinou bit her lip. _I don't really have a choice._ She slowly stood up and followed him out.

                They took a different route to Kaiba's office than Kinou knew, so after only a minute or two, she was completely lost. Kantugo had not spoken to her since they had left and she worried that he was angry. She cleared her throat quietly.

                "So… are you ever going to go back? You know, to Marik's place?"

                He still did not speak to her, so she kept silent. They kept walking and finally, Kinou stopped. "Ok, this is taking way too long; I know Seto's office is closer than this. Where are you taking me?"

                Kantugo stopped as well. "Back to where you belong," he replied softly, facing her.

                Kinou folded her arms. "Where, might I ask, is that? I doubt you're talking about my home, since you have no way to put me back there."

                He stepped forward. "I am taking you back to your master, foolish girl."

                _My master? What the hell does that mean?_ Kinou thought. "Foolish girl; that's something Yami Marik would say! You're not Kantugo!" she yelled, backing up.

                "Very perceptive," he sneered.

                She started to run, but he caught her arm and pulled her back, wrapping his other arm around her waist. "Going so soon, my dear?" he asked, smirking, as a bright Millennium Eye appeared on his forehead. He began morphing back into Yami Marik, the twisted grin still plastered on his face. Kinou was frozen with fear, remembering the last time she had seen him; horrible images flooded her mind as she tried to escape his grasp, but he used the same strength he had used on her bed to keep her in place, and she couldn't move. Her other arm was free, so she raised it in an attempt to punch him or do something to make him let go of her. He caught her other hand and tripped her; she fell on her back, and the force of hitting the ground knocked the wind out of her. Swooping down on top of her, he held both of her hands above her head with one of his once again and grasped her painfully by the neck with his other. He leaned very close to her as she struggled for breath and hissed, "You are coming back with me whether you like it or not; there's nothing you can do about it."

                And the world went dark. Kinou again found herself floating in nothingness, no light source shined out, and her body was semi-transparent. She twisted around, but couldn't tell whether she had actually moved, for there was absolutely nothing to focus on. Nothing was happening, and she couldn't feel anything. She tried pinching herself extremely hard, but she didn't feel any pain. _Ok, so touch and sight are pretty much gone,_ she thought to herself. She tried calling out, and her voice did sound; it stayed as a loud echo for about 30 seconds before fading away. "Hello?" she called again. "Is there anybody there?" Listening for some response, she heard none. Closing her eyes, she curled up, hoping this blackout wouldn't make something worse than the previous experience. She worried that she would hurt someone; she wasn't worried about getting away from Yami Marik, but what if she moved on and tried to hurt Seto again? What if she succeeded? Nothing happened for about a minute until she woke up, holding a door shut and panting. She nearly fell over since she had gone from a fetal position to standing up in a split second, but she caught herself and took a few deep breaths. 

                Her side was aching; she suspected she had been running, but when she reached down to clutch at it, it hurt even more. Pulling her shirt up slightly, she saw there was an enormous bruise now forming slightly above her hip, and noticed her hands had a little bit of blood on them. She quickly looked around for any lacerations on her body, but she only turned up the old bruises from her dream with Yami Marik, as well as a few new ones and a long, shallow scratch across her left shoulder. Lifting up her hand again, she saw no cut that the blood could have come from, either. _It must be someone else's_, she thought, swallowing hard. A slight groan made her whip around to discover that she had run into Tanurah's hospital room. He was asleep, it seemed, but he was talking quietly to himself in short fragments.

                "Didn't work… needs more… must go back to……" He reached out his hand and clenched his fist. "Why won't he……… I can do it… I can…"

                Kinou was extremely frightened and slowly turned the doorknob as quietly as she could to get out. As the door creaked open, some light from the hallway seeped in, but she opened the door just wide enough for her to slide through so that no light would reach his pillow. He kept muttering to himself as she peered worriedly through the crack of the door before closing it. She rested her head against the door frame, beginning to wonder what had happened while she had been out.

                "What are you doing here?" 

                Kinou jumped nearly a foot in the air and whirled around, flattening herself against the wall. Kaiba now stood in front of her, his eyes widening at seeing her as she faced him. "What the _hell_ happened to you?" he asked.

                She couldn't speak; she merely tried opening her mouth slightly, but only a whimper escaped her lips. He looked from her to the door and his eyes narrowed. "Did you try to attack him while he was asleep? You coward," he spat, and she flinched. "Looks like he won, though I have to admit it looks like you gave him more trouble. Who will you go after next? Kantugo? Oh yes, I forgot, you can't hurt him, because he's _dead_."

                Kinou shook her head. "That wasn't Kantugo," she murmured dryly. 

                "Don't start that with me again," he said, holding up his hand.

                "It wasn't!" yelled Kinou, shutting her eyes and putting her fists against her forehead. "That was not Kantugo! That was Yami Marik, and you all were too _stupid_ to realise that! I was practising with Lonu and he came to get me, and when we were alone, he turned back into Yami Marik and attacked me!" She broke down and started crying, sinking to the floor. "I don't know how I got away; he had me on the floor by the neck, and I blacked out and found myself in there with all these bruises and—and—" she held out her hand without looking up at him. "I don't know where this blood came from, but I don't have any cuts on me, so it must be someone else's… I'm so scared…" she whispered, keeping her hand out.

                Kaiba stood for a moment, not speaking, but then he got down on one knee and gently cupped her hand in his, steadying its shake. "Kinou…" he murmured. She looked up at him and he guided her other hand to her right cheek. When he took it off, she saw more blood on it, and realised she had not checked her face in her search. She looked back up at him, and he gazed into her eyes with a pain she had never seen before.

                "Come on," he said, helping her up. 

                She stood up and he put his hand around her waist to help her walk. "I don't know much about medicine, but I'll see what I can do to clean you up."

                Kinou stared up at Kaiba as they began to walk down the hallway. _What the_ hell _just happened?_ she wondered, thoroughly confused. He didn't say anything else to her until they were back in his office, where he told her to sit on his desk while he looked for some kind of bandage. As he was rummaging through his things, she kept staring at him, not believing she was actually there.

                "Are you feeling all right?" she asked him.

                "What do you mean?" he asked, not turning around to look at her.

                Kinou bit her lip. "Well, you're not being yourself… at all." He turned around and fixed her with a piercing stare.

                "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

                "I'm not saying it's bad," said Kinou hurriedly. "It's just… you're being…_nice_." She looked back at him, hoping she didn't just ruin the only time she had ever seen him care about someone's well being, excepting the many times he had gone after his brother to save him.

                "Would you prefer me to fetch someone else to kiss your ouchies to make them feel better?" he mocked.

                Kinou smirked. _That's more like it._ "No, I'm good," she replied.

                He walked over to the desk with some Kleenex and a bottle of water, giving her a glare that warned her not to make fun of the substitutes for real medical equipment. As he put a folded Kleenex over the neck of the bottle and shook it to get it wet, Kinou couldn't help but smile. _Who in this godforsaken world would believe that Seto Kaiba is actually spending time to take care of someone? It's ludicrous, but I like it a lot._

                Kaiba turned to her with the wet tissue in his hand. "Move your bangs out of the way," he said, tilting her head so that the cut across her cheek was facing him. She obeyed and closed her eyes, basking in the feeling of him touching her face ever so gently. As he dabbed at her cheek, she could feel a slight tingling on her cut as the water evaporated off her skin. He used about seven napkins before he finally took a step back. Kinou opened her eyes and put a hand to her cheek, gingerly feeling the deep cut.

                "I managed to make it stop bleeding, but it still looks disgusting," said Kaiba. She laughed weakly. "I don't have anything to put over it, so you'll just have to go to the hospital wing to get something."            

                "Thank you," said Kinou, trying to smile and failing miserably.

                Kaiba went to put everything away, all the while throwing glances at her, like he wanted to ask her something. When he came back and sat in a chair in front of the desk, he looked as if he had chosen the right words to say to her. He crossed his legs and laid his arms on the arm rests, gripping them slightly as he spoke.

                "Why did you attack me?"

                Kinou stared back at him, guilt rising in her mind as she tried to think of a logical way to explain it to him. No words came, however, and she instead looked at the floor. "I—I don't know," she murmured finally.

                Neither of them spoke for a while; neither moved either, and the barrier of silence that had been with them earlier emerged once again to separate them. Kaiba sighed heavily, and spoke again, it seemed, with some difficulty.

                "Do you want to know the reason I've been keeping such a close eye on you?"  Kinou still did not look at him, but she inclined her head slightly to show that she did. He took a deep breath. "A few months ago, when I first started research on the reinoty virus, a boy supposedly infected with it was brought to my attention. Tanurah had already begun experiments, unknown to me until I walked in on one of them. When I asked him about the boy, he said that he had come from a school for the gifted in a town he had just returned from, and he was doing tests to see if he had any relation to the virus. After a while, the boy started to rebel against all authority in my mansion; he would randomly attack people, much like you've been doing. I once found him in the doctor's office, badly injured and unconscious. Tanurah told me he had escaped from his office and run off in my mansion; he was found later with cuts and bruises all over him and he had fainted from a loss of blood. Right after he recovered, he escaped again and never came back. I had my mansion searched from top to bottom for him, as well as whoever might have injured him the first time he went out by himself, but my staff turned up nothing…"

                Kinou had looked up in the middle of his story, confused. _He wasn't attacked when he went out alone; he attacked Dr. Tanurah and injured them both. And he didn't disappear into Seto's mansion; he was locked up. But then he said he had the mansion searched, so why didn't they go searching through that hallway? Maybe they couldn't get through the door… but this is his mansion, why would he have a door he didn't have the key for?_ She had been talking so much to herself, she didn't notice Kaiba had stood up until he was very close to her.

                "The last time someone came here, he went mad and got himself hurt when he went wandering around by himself. To me, you're already starting to act like him. I've been making sure you're under surveillance because…"

                "…because you didn't want the same thing to happen to me?" Kinou finished for him.

                He merely looked into her eyes, almost imploringly. "I can't have you disappearing anywhere." She could hear the old, forceful tone she knew so well creeping back into his voice. "I want you right here…"

                Coming even closer, he gently pushed her back onto his desk, immediately causing several stacks of neat papers to scatter to the floor. He leaned in, and she could feel his breath on her face as he whispered to her, "I want _you_, Kinou."

                Once again, a far-off yell echoed through her mind, stronger than before, but she still couldn't hear what it was saying, and frankly she didn't care. He was inches away from kissing her when there was a loud rap on the door. Before she knew it, he had stood back up and sat back down in his chair. "Enter," he said curtly.

                Lonu carefully opened the door and bowed. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked, smiling at Kinou. "I was just wondering where she was and why it was taking so long—"

                "We're done," Kaiba cut into her sentence. "I will speak to you later, Kinou."

                "Oh wonderful," said Lonu, beaming, as Kinou shakily slid off of Kaiba's desk. When she walked over to the door, Lonu gasped. "Good gracious, child, what happened?" she yelled, pulling Kinou towards her and turning her cut cheek towards her. 

                "I'll explain on the way," said Kinou, giving Kaiba one last look before slowly turning to walk out the door.

*         *         *

*****whew*** **Yet another long one! I might put up the next chapter this weekend, but I'll need to think on it ^___^.


	22. The First Happy Dream

Hullo everyone! Thank you all so much for your reviews! Makes me even more motivated to climb over and dominate the Writer's Block I'm currently facing in my sequel .. Here's the next chapter~

**22. The First Happy Dream~**

                "That sneak!"

                Kinou had just finished telling Lonu about her attack; they were sitting on a hospital bed, Lonu trying and failing to put a bandage on Kinou's cheek as she was talking. 

                "I seemed to be the only one who noticed that he was different," said Kinou, causing the new bandage Lonu had on her cheek to peel off and fall. Lonu cursed and picked it up.

                "I know we need to talk about that, but I need to find a way to heal this!" she said exasperatedly. 

                "And these," said Kinou, pulling up her shirt slightly to reveal the large bruise above her hip, as well as the ones on her arm and the long scratch on her left shoulder.

                "Goodness, child! How did you ever get away alive?"

                Kinou shook her head and pulled her shirt back down. Lonu sat beside her and looked at her cut some more. "Why won't you let me give you stitches? They'll heal it faster than any bandage and you'll have an anaesthetic to block out any feel—"

                "I told you, _no_," said Kinou firmly. "We had this argument on the way down here and there's no way you're coming near me with a needle and thread to sew my skin together. Got it?" She glared at Lonu, who looked at the floor. Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she reached up and ran her fingers delicately across her cut. "I'm sorry, Lonu… I've been in a horrible state since Emily's been missing and I've hardly shown any compassion towards anyone. I know you're just trying to help; I really appreciate it and all, it's just that I can't stand needles. If you want to just save yourself the trouble and not do anything—"

                "Heavens no, child! I'm going to find a way to make this stick and heal that gash if it's the last thing I do!" cried Lonu, and with that, she stood up and rummaged around in a cabinet for more supplies. Kinou couldn't feel more grateful towards Lonu, but she still could feel the need to be alone growing steadily stronger. As Lonu moved things aside, looking behind them, Kinou reflected on her time in Kaiba's mansion. _I haven't been by myself for a really long while… everything's been happening all at once and I haven't had any time to just sit and think like I used to. _

                "I'll be right back, dear," said Lonu. "I don't have anything that could possibly be useful in here; there's probably something in another room." She walked out.

                Kinou immediately got up, thanking whatever kept hearing her thoughts and answering them, and left the room as well, heading towards hers. When she arrived, she went and lied down on her bed with her hands behind her head. Before she could think about anything worrying her, she was asleep.

                A wonderful warmth flowed through her body, and she opened her eyes to find herself in a beautiful garden, lying back on a bench. Sitting up, she noticed that she was now wearing a long, billowing sari wrapped around her; the fabric was silky soft and its light blue colour was only interrupted by the white sash around her waist that was holding it to her. She stood up and a light breeze played across her cheek, bringing the sweet scent of lilacs with it. A gurgling stream was to her right, and she walked over to it to let the water flow over her fingers, watching as the ripples she made gracefully distorted her face. Leaning forward, she realised her hair was down, something she had not seen in a long time, and marvelled at how pretty it made her look. A shadow came across her and she saw another face behind her in the reflection in the water. Looking up, she saw Marik.

                Though she was terrified of his Yami, he did not bring her fear as he stood above her, a true smile she had never seen before playing across his lips. He was garbed in silk, tan-coloured pants and sleeveless shirt; a red sash encircled his waist. Another light breeze blew by, making their garments blow elegantly around them, and Kinou felt completely at ease. She wanted this to last forever; she wanted the wind to keep blowing, she wanted them to keep staring, almost lovingly, into each other's eyes… 

                Marik walked over to her and gently took her hands in his. "Kinou…" he murmured.          

                Kinou nearly fainted from how beautiful he was; that was the first time he had ever said her name, and she wanted him to say more, his voice was so intoxicating to her. She looked up at him and almost leaned in for a kiss before he spoke again.

                "This is not a dream, either, Kinou." He spoke delicately, weighing each word as if he wanted to make everything perfect for her. His eyes never left hers as he let his words flow out. "I am in your mind; I am real. When I was expulsed from my body, you were the nearest carrier that I wanted to be in; I've been residing in your mind and watching over you."

                "Were you the one who saved me from your Yami?" she asked in a whisper.

                He bowed his head, wrapping one of his arms around her waist and using his other to gently stroke the side of her face with the cut as he continued. "I was there when you found out about your power; I tried to stop him from hurting you, but I failed in my attempts and had to watch it happen. I wouldn't allow myself to let it happen again, not when I could easily save you. Though, when I took over and fought back—" he paused to place his fingers on her cut "—I didn't keep some things from happening." He looked deep into her eyes. "I've always wanted to protect you, Kinou. That's why I came to get you in the first place."

                Kinou blinked. "What do you mean?"

                "Sit down," he said. She did so in the gap of the roots of a blossoming tree, and he sat next to her, putting his arms around her and holding her close to him. His heart was beating softly in his chest, and she closed her eyes, listening to it as well as what he said. "I was friends with Tanurah in my childhood after I ran away from home. He and his family practically raised me, since I was so young, and he and I became very close. At one point, my Yami took over me and began bringing out the darker side in him as well. He was still very young, so he had almost no resistance to his evil. By the time I was able to take control of my body again, Tanurah was already corrupted. I fled from him, not wanting to ruin any good he may have had left, and did not speak to him for nearly seven years. Later on, I happened to be eavesdropping on a conversation about KaibaCorp teaming up with Tanurah's medical practise, and about the rumour of children with powers residing in the mansion. Before I could stop him, my Yami took over once again, and went to visit Tanurah to make an alliance with him. They agreed on a plan: my Yami would help the doctor take over KaibaCorp completely if he, in return, would let him use one of the children for his own purpose of getting the pharaoh's power. The young boy, Terry, was the first that was brought here; Yami transported Tanurah to get him and bring him back, since he wasn't exactly up for using the little energy he had left after a recent fight over my body with me. As Tanurah began experiments to test the boy, Yami became impatient and told him to speed up the process, so Tanurah devised a formula to inject the boy with to strengthen his power. It made him half-insane, and it looked as if it was having the same effect as Yami's on Tanurah, for he had an alter ego that started to emerge and influence him more than anyone else. When you were discovered, Tanurah decided the boy was too unstable to continue, so he tried to dispose of him. He did not succeed, but he managed to hide him away until Kaiba's mansion had been searched; only then could he find a place in which to lock the boy up. He lied about him to everyone and he didn't bother to tell Kaiba the same thing, because he knew that Kaiba didn't care enough about the boy to investigate any holes in his story. When I saw what had happened to the boy, I couldn't let it happen to you; ever since I first saw you…" He paused, reminiscing. "I was watching through the eyes of my Yami when Tanurah showed your picture to him. I could sense his want for you, and I knew that if I did not intervene, he would not only use you for the pharaoh's power, but also for something much worse. I managed to take over again just long enough to take you from your world; I planned to take you somewhere far away from Domino City, away from harm. But, as you undoubtedly saw, my Yami began to take over again once I had you near me. My feelings for you only deepened, and they confused me, for I had never felt like that before for another, and I acted without thinking. I only used the excuse of wanting the Millennium Puzzle to hide my true intentions." He squeezed her gently and whispered into her ear, "I have always wanted you to be safe; I have always loved you, Kinou."

                They sat in silence for a while, Kinou pondering all the new information that had hit her all at once. It all made sense, everything seemed to fall together at last, and she could understand the strange events that had been occurring ever since she had arrived.  She nuzzled her head into his neck and whispered, "Are you the echo I've been hearing in my mind?"

                "Yes. I have been trying to communicate with you, but you've been blocking me out somehow, and no matter how hard I've tried, I can't seem to get through."

                "You tried to talk to me when Seto had me on his desk… What were you trying to say?"

                "I knew he would hurt you; he refused to believe you when you tried to tell him Kantugo was a fake and mocked you for being afraid of what could happen. That was the first time I took over, but it was out of anger; I wanted to hurt him as badly as I could for speaking to you that way. But I only caused more harm to befall you…" He put his other hand on her left cheek, warming it. "And when he accused you of trying to attack Tanurah… He had said horrible things to you, and I didn't believe in his desire. I was trying to keep you from falling under his spell."

                Kinou's heart lurched_. But I loved him before then… I already felt the need for his touch, his compassion, his voice—_

                Marik sat up and stared at her. "You _love_ him?" he asked.

                Kinou blinked in confusion. "I didn't say that."

                "Remember that I am in your mind; I can hear your thoughts as plainly as if you speak them aloud. You say that you love him, and I do not believe you. He has crushed your happiness by bringing you here, he has mocked you when you were in need of comfort, he has mocked you for your fears; how can you love someone who treats you so?"

                She looked away and closed her eyes. "I… I don't know… He has such power over me… I can't explain it at all, it's like the energy he gives off pulls me towards him and won't let go."

                "Kinou, he will never love you the way I do," said Marik, reaching out with his hand. As he cupped her face in it, she gasped, for it was very cold, completely the opposite of what she had felt when he touched her cheek moments earlier. His face started to swim before her eyes and he called out something softly to her as she felt his warmth leaving her: "I'll always be here; just open up your mind to me and I will be with you…" Kinou reached her hand out to try to keep him from leaving her, and she felt it hit something in front of her. As Marik disappeared, Kaiba's face loomed above her, his hand upon her cheek, and her hand grasping the front of his shirt. She blinked, completely confused as to what had just happened, and Kaiba put his other hand over the one she had upon his chest.  She drew her hand back and sat up, putting some distance between herself and Kaiba, not wanting to be thrown into another whirl of sexual desire. He moved over on her bed and stroked her arm with his hand, making her shiver.

                "There's no risk of being interrupted this time, Kinou," he murmured. "I've locked your door so that people won't be able to barge in."

                She looked over and glared at him. "How the hell is that supposed to make me feel better?"

                He chuckled. "You're just too scared to admit you want it to happen."

                "No, I really don't," said Kinou sternly, shrugging his hand off of her. _I can't let him get to me… I don't want to hurt Marik, not after what he's just done for me. I can't let him win. _

                Kaiba, however, wasn't showing any signs of backing down. He crawled over to her and leaned her back, holding her chin and kissing her. She stiffened her arms to keep him from getting her flat on her back, and he drew back slightly, looking annoyed at her resistance. Staring straight into his eyes, she said forcefully, "You may think I want this; I don't. I _did_, but not now."

                "Why?" he asked, trying to lean into another kiss. "A feeling like that just doesn't leave, it stays for a long time."

                "Stop," she said, turning her head away. "It's because I—"

                Her words were cut off when he roughly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her.  His grip was extremely strong, and she could barely resist all that he did. Part of her wanted to give into him, to just let herself go and let him do what he wanted to her. She was about ready to start responding to one of his deep kisses when Marik's echo stirred once again in her mind. Instead of ignoring it, she tried to focus on what he said and not on the sensations Kaiba's tongue was making in her mouth. His calls began to become clearer to her, and she could discern what he was yelling: "Don't give in!"

                She was jerked back to the situation at hand when Kaiba started to run one of his hands down her side, reminding her all too much of what Yami Marik had done, and she whimpered, drawing back. Kaiba was just about to open his mouth to protest, when there was a large crash against Kinou's door and it completely fell out of the door frame, the dry wall surrounding it crumbling and blowing dust everywhere. Both Kaiba and Kinou stood up and faced the doorway, not seeing any movement coming from it. They heard a few shouts from some guards who had been attracted by the noise, and they were all cut short; gagging noises replaced their yells and they heard several large thumps on the floor as they hit the ground. Kinou was frozen with fear, but Kaiba stepped forward, towards the dust cloud.

                "Show yourself!" he yelled.

                Someone started laughing. "That would be quite impossible," a voice returned—a voice so cold and cruel, Kinou did not recognise it at all. Suddenly, Kaiba was thrown off his feet and slammed into a wall, held in place by a glowing aura, and Kinou cried out as the Millennium Rod gleamed out of the now settling dust, clasped by Yami Marik.

                "For you see," Yami Marik said, his voice sounding less frightening compared to the first, "There are two of us."

                "Who's with you?" cried out Kinou, glancing helplessly at Kaiba, who appeared to be struggling with all his might against the dark force keeping him in place.

                "You should know by now, Kinou," came the cold voice again, and Kinou saw movement behind Yami Marik. Tanurah stepped out and fixed her with a look that sent shivers throughout her whole body; his eyes were almost completely surrounded by a dark shadow. Continuing to come towards her, he raised his hands, manifesting that he held a length of rope in them, and Kinou backed, horrified, into a wall. As he came closer and closer to her, getting the rope ready, he smiled cruelly at her. "And it's time we had a little fun."

*         *         *

Don don don!!!!!!! Heh, gotta love cliffies, ne? Just wait~ it gets better!


	23. Data Transfer

And finally, the first of the two climax chapters in my story! Don don don! Now in all seriousness, this _is _the longest chapter in my story, so if you didn't listen to me before when I said "Make sure you have time," _make sure you have time!_ Hee, well anyway you've probably moved on and started reading by now, so I'll just leave it at this and hope you enjoy chapter 23!

**23. Data Transfer~    **

                He tied her up and pushed her roughly down the many hallways of Kaiba's mansion, Yami Marik following them with Kaiba still bound by the purple energy flowing from his Millennium Rod, looking almost bored at Kaiba's feeble attempts to free himself. Tanurah had gagged her mouth, so she couldn't make a loud enough noise to attract help from the remaining guards that hadn't been killed. They made their way down to the very bowels of the mansion and halted at a steel door similar to that of Terry's, but Tanurah wrenched it open with one arm as though it were a flimsy piece of cardboard. When they stepped through and into the room beyond, Kinou's back arched as a coldness she had never felt the like of before swept over her and she halted on the uneven stone floor, unable to move. Tanurah roughly shoved her, causing her to lose her balance and fall; she hit the ground and skidded, and the cut on her cheek ripped open again.  Blood began to seep out and trickle down her neck as she curled up and watched Tanurah stalk into a side room while Yami Marik leisurely threw Kaiba to the floor and snapped his fingers, conjuring up ropes around Kaiba's torso that bound him so tightly he could barely move, a gag now in his mouth. Yami Marik moved into the side room after Tanurah and all went quiet. Kinou closed her eyes, tears mixing with the blood on her cheek. She could hear Kaiba trying to move and he managed to inch his way over so that he could see her face. His brow knitted when he glimpsed her bleeding, but she took no notice of his concern. Her mind was filling with Marik's cries out to her, and she was trying to listen to them all at once, trying to understand the jumble of thoughts pouring into her. Anger, sadness, worry, helplessness, love, concern… all were swimming through her mind at once, but one thought stood out more than the rest and she focused on it.

_                "Kinou! Are you all right?"  _

                She barely could make herself respond to his cries to her, but she forced her mind to focus on him, once again turning her attention away from the more pressing situation. _….yes… I'm… I'm bleeding…_ was all that she could manage to get out to him before the voices of Yami Marik and Tanurah returned and she opened her eyes to see them carrying a body back into the room.  Ragged breathing reached her ears as the arm of the person swung into her view—and clasped in its hand was Emily. She gasped, barely making a noise through the gag in her mouth. They laid the person on a table and as they moved around to start fastening restraints to him, Kinou realised it was Terry. 

                He was unconscious, and badly hurt. There was a large gash on his forehead and nothing had been done to clean up the large stream of blood that had emitted from it, and he had numerous cuts and bruises on his arms. His state was so horrible, Kinou wondered incredulously why he was still alive.  The two men snapped metal clasps around Terry's wrists, ankles, and midsection, binding him to the table. Yami Marik saw the little rag doll in his hand and made a noise of contempt.

                "Why is _that_ still there?" he sneered.

                "As hard as I tried to get it out, the fool won't let go of it," replied Tanurah, turning to peer at Emily. "It must be something important to him, though it's one of the foulest things I have ever laid eyes upon. No matter," he continued, turning back to an enormous control panel. "It won't interfere; we only need his mind."

                Kinou and Kaiba looked at each other as Yami Marik walked over and yanked her up by her ropes. He laid her on a table next to Terry's and she looked over at his mangled body as he began to stir slightly. Yami Marik put a metal clasp on her neck as he leaned over her.

                "It would be wise to not try anything, my dear," he said, snapping his fingers and causing the ropes that bound her to disappear. She instantly tried to undo the metal clasp around her neck; he smirked as she clawed at it, and Tanurah called him over to where he was. As he left, Kinou desperately felt around for the crevice to unlock her bind. Terry groaned and she turned her head as well as she could to see him waking up and trying to move. 

                He slowly opened his eyes and looked around wildly until his eyes fell upon Kinou. His mouth opened in surprise, and she looked imploringly back at him, unable to speak because of the piece of cloth still in her mouth. Tanurah cursed loudly; both of the teenagers turned their heads to look at him.

                "There's not enough power to go through!" he yelled, hitting his fist upon the panel.

                "You told me everything was prepared, you fool," said Yami Marik, folding his arms and looking daggers at him.

                Tanurah sharply turned his head to him. "It _was_; we just need power. We have everything else we need and nothing will get in our way." He looked over at Kinou and Terry. "Are they securely held?"

                "Both are weak and bound by steel; they're not going anywhere," returned Yami Marik, turning to face them as well. 

                "They'd better not," said Tanurah, starting to walk back out. "We need two to hack into the mainframe and redirect all the power to here. Come."

                Yami Marik took one last look at the both of them, smirking, before he followed Tanurah out the door, pulling it shut with a loud clang. Terry looked over at Kinou, who had pulled out her gag and started to try to free herself again. 

                "Kinou…" he murmured. 

                Kinou paid no attention to him, getting more and more desperate; she moved her feet up on the table and grimaced as she pushed her hips and body up with all her might to try to cause it to snap open, but to no avail. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she became more and more frightened and Terry, noticing her panic, tried to get her attention again. 

                "Kinou!" 

                She finally gave up and let her hips fall back on the table, starting to cry softly, her breath coming in short gasps. Her hands still gripped the metal restraint as she looked over at him with the utmost sorrow and despair in her eyes. 

                Kaiba's grunts were the only other noise in the room as Terry stared back at her with pity. He closed his eyes partially, looking at her as though she were a small child that didn't understand her situation in the slightest. "I tried to tell you, but…"

                Kinou bit back a sob. "But I was being stupid and ignorant and didn't listen. It's my fault we're here… I should have run away and brought you with me; we could have found our own way back, but—"

                "_Nothing_ is your fault, you were just confused," interrupted Terry. He started coughing, his chest heaving up and down in violent jerks, and Kinou could hear him choking on something stuck in his throat. A particularly loud hack sounded, and a small spurt of blood emitted from his lips. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily, the blood trickling down his cheek and onto the table.  Kinou continued to watch him, unable to move or speak, for she was horrified at what she had allowed to happen to him. He slowly began to breathe easier, and he turned his head to her again, smiling slightly. "I kept her safe," he said, laughing weakly and trying to lift his hand to show her Emily. She did not laugh, but more tears spilled out of her already damp eyes. 

                "Terry… I'm so sorry…"

                A bright surge of energy lit up the dark room for a brief moment before dimming again, though the lights were brighter than they were before. Kinou heard Kaiba mutter some indistinguishable words through the gag, her eyes never leaving Terry's face, and his never leaving hers. She slowly stretched out her hand to him, her fingers barely stroking his arm; he held out his fingers the best he could and she got a small hold on them. Both of them drew their mouths into a straight line; with that, a brief moment of telepathy flew between them: _We're going to get out of here._

                The door slammed open once again, and Tanurah and Yami Marik walked in, both wearing the same insane grin. 

                "How touching, they're holding hands," sneered Yami Marik, glimpsing the teenagers, who were still staring into each other's eyes, determination ever growing. 

                "And Mr. Kaiba is all alone on the floor," said Tanurah, chuckling darkly and walking into the back room once again. "You should have at least let him have a better view of the bonding."

                "My apologies," snickered Yami Marik, raising his Millennium Rod; Kaiba rose a few feet in the air and was flown into a chair; Yami Marik snapped his fingers again and the ropes rewound themselves around the chair and Kaiba. "And we'll have no more of this," he said, walking up to their table. Kinou tightened her grip on Terry and raised her knee almost to her chest, ready to kick out at him with everything she had. 

                "Come any closer and you'll really get it," she said.

                Yami Marik laughed and took another step forward; she kicked her leg out and he threw up his hand, blocking her foot from hitting his head by inches. Keeping his grip on her foot, he pushed it back to the point that her knee was once again near her chest so that he could reach over and snap a clasp on the hand that wasn't grasping Terry. Almost in the same motion, he snapped a large one around her waist, keeping her leg pinned up. He grinned evilly at her and pushed her leg painfully higher up on her chest, placing his other hand on her unbent leg and pushing it down to the table, stretching her farther than her body would allow; she grimaced and bit her tongue to keep from screaming. "Threats won't do you any good, my dear," he said, leaning forward and pressing her leg even further. "You are quite incapable of keeping us from doing anything."

                Kinou tried to push her leg back as she grimaced and tried to glare at him. "Go to hell."

                Yami Marik laughed, keeping her leg exactly where it was. "Ah yes, I had forgotten that you watched when I killed that fool Kantugo. You must have been the vessel my weaker self decided to cower in. That was not the only dream that has given you the truth, now was it?" He moved his hand up on her leg, and she whimpered, cowering.

                "Get your hands off her, you bastard!" yelled Terry.

                Yami Marik froze, staring at him as Kinou struggled to keep from crying out. He let go of her legs and she gasped out at the release, letting her leg fall limply next to its proper place beside the other one. Yami Marik took out his Millennium Rod and pointed it at Terry, leaning over him and smirking. "Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to fight against one of us? Or do you need a reminder?" He raised his arm and struck Terry in the side of the face with his Rod.

                "Terry!" yelled Kinou. Yami Marik grabbed her hand from Terry's and twisted it back painfully before securing it to her side with another metal restraint. 

                Terry groaned and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and looking close to losing consciousness. Tanurah reentered and Yami Marik went to join him at the control panel.  They both began muttering together, and Kinou could not hear what they were saying, but she feared for her and Terry all the same. 

                "It's ready," said Tanurah, and he and Yami Marik gave each other a dark smirk before walking over to their tables, Yami Marik at Terry's and Tanurah at Kinou's. They both reached behind the heads of the tables and pulled out some electrodes with what looked like thin, plastic tubes running from their centres. Kinou looked imploringly at Tanurah as he began to stick the electrodes to her temples, wondering how someone so kind and gentle could have done such a complete turnaround. He noticed her stare and when the electrodes were securely in place, he leaned over her, resting his elbow on the table and stroking her cheek. She cringed from the deathly cold sensation that reached her senses as he did so, and he spoke to her again in his terrifying voice.

                "Don't worry, Kinou, this won't hurt," he said, not making her feel any better at all. "…_much_." He smirked at her terrified silence and stalked back to the control panel, flipping a few switches; the gigantic machine began to hum with a noise that sent shivers through Kinou. She looked over at Terry, but he still had not opened his eyes, electrodes now on his temples. Looking at the control panel once more, Kinou saw that two screens had turned themselves on, and waves had begun to play across them; one set was peaking up and trembling greatly, the other was a near straight line with only a few bumps here and there. Tanurah typed in something, and one more screen came to life, flashing two large bars with numbers and letters scattered about them. DATA TRANSFER flashed across the screen, and Tanurah turned to them, smirking. "This shouldn't take too long," he snickered, and with that, he pulled on the largest switch on the panel. 

                Almost instantaneously, Kinou felt a pain like never before shoot through her mind. She screamed out and shut her eyes, blotting out all other sights and sounds from her senses. Her body began to move involuntarily, reacting to the pain: her teeth gritted together and her legs once again started to try to push her out of her restraints; her fists clenched so tightly that she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms, but it hardly took her attention away from her head, which felt like it was about to split into two. It felt like something was rushing into her; she couldn't tell what it was, she only knew she wanted it to stop. She almost fainted from the pain before her consciousness was yanked into darkness once again. The pain disappeared, and she could no longer feel any restraints on her. She was not alone in the pitch-black, however.

                Marik came floating to her from out of nowhere, and wrapped his arms about her tightly; she could hear his heart pounding furiously against his chest as he held her to him, as though he were afraid she would disappear if he let go. 

                "What happened?" she asked him breathlessly, relaxing slightly with his warmth.

                He let her go slightly to tilt her chin up, gazing into her eyes. "I couldn't let you suffer, Kinou, I just couldn't… I pulled your mind here so that you would not feel any more pain."

                She kissed him lightly, grateful he knew how to get her there without taking over her body himself. He pulled her back and kissed her deeply, catching her off-guard. As she began to use her own tongue to caress his, sounds started to emerge out of the darkness. The hum of the machine grew ever louder, and she broke the comforting kiss to stare around for the source. An ear-splitting yell rang out and Kinou whirled around, frightened by the thought that it could be Terry. The machine's terrible noise died out, and she turned back to Marik, who knew what she was about to ask.

                "Go on," he said, letting her go completely and starting to fade away. "I will do what I can to protect you, but be careful…"

                She slowly opened her eyes, and tensed up as she realised her body was extremely warm, and it felt full of a strange energy, unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her muscles ached, and she could barely move at all without getting a shooting pain through her body. The electrodes on her temples were extremely hot, and she tried to shake her head to get them off. Tanurah suddenly appeared over her and pulled the electrodes off, checking her pulse. He straightened back up and looked at Yami Marik, who was leaning against the panel, toying with the Millennium Rod. 

                "Her heart rate is up, but not high enough to affect how she performs," he said.

                Kinou finally got her voice to work. "What… what the hell did you just do?" she asked weakly.

                Tanurah turned back to her. "I'm surprised you can even complete a thought, Kinou. Most would be completely stunned for a while after what we just did. But, since you still appear to be slightly dulled, I'll use small words so that you can understand." Kinou gritted her teeth, and he smirked before continuing. "I'm sure you know all about why Terry was brought here, but we made a discovery about him later on after I had analysed your blood sample. He actually had a different version of the virus in him; instead of being able to control what he did, the virus allowed him to move things a great distance away with a tremendous force, which would explain the numerous car accidents that were reported around KaibaCorp while he was being studied. We knew that if we combined your powers, the force would be incredible, making it all too easy to accomplish our goal once the powers were in the same body."

                Kinou's head was clearing rapidly, and she glared at him. "All this trouble for KaibaCorp? What were you planning to do with it once you had it?"

                Tanurah laughed at her. "You think this is still about this stupid company? When we could easily take whatever we wanted, however big or small? With the combined powers, we won't even need the pharaoh's power to rule the world with an iron fist."

                "What makes you so confident that this has even the slightest possibly of working?" asked Kinou skeptically. 

                "We'll just have to find out, now won't we?" he snickered, unbinding her. She immediately tried to sit up, but her body seemed to be weighed down by something, and she couldn't move at all. He sat her up instead, chuckling. "Your mind seems to be way ahead of your body; this paralysis should only last for a little while, and then we can have some fun."

                "You're sick," spat Kinou. She tried to move some more, and managed to move her shoulders and flex her fingers a little bit.         

                "And you appear to be recovering at an astounding rate," said Tanurah, watching her movements. "Soon we'll be able to find out if that fool's energy will expand your force of power."

                "Terry?" asked Kinou, looking around at his table. Her eyes widened as she saw him still lying unconscious, but her breath caught in her throat as she watched and realised his chest was not moving anymore. "…Terry?" she whispered again.

                "Check him," said Tanurah, and Yami Marik walked forward and pressed two fingers against Terry's neck, waiting. Kinou held her breath, not daring to make a noise; she was hoping, _praying_ that he was all right, but a small voice in her head was bringing doubt into her mind: _If your perfectly healthy body was paralysed from that, you can't possibly expect him to have survived it, and you weren't even in your body for the whole thing—Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP,_ Kinou said to herself. After about a half a minute, Yami Marik smirked and looked back up at Tanurah. 

                "One less person to get in our way."

                "What? What the hell does that mean?" yelled Kinou.

                Yami Marik simply laughed at her, and tears began to cloud her vision as fear overtook her mind. Her mouth opened wordlessly for a few moments as she struggled for a reason he could not feel Terry's pulse; none came. "You're—You're lying!" she cried. "He's not dead! He's not!"

                Yami Marik smirked again and undid one of Terry's hand binds. He lifted Emily out of Terry's hand, and tossed her carelessly into the air with one hand as he continued to look at Kinou. "Even when he was unconscious, he refused to let go of this filthsome thing. If he were still alive, his fingers would not be easily pried open."

                Kinou gritted her teeth as anger began to flow through her, the hand that she could move trembled violently as it clenched into a ball. Angry tears rolled silently down her cheeks. "You sick bastards…" she murmured.

                Tanurah chuckled and walked over to Yami Marik. He picked Emily out of his hands and held her up by her ear, looking at her. "This seems really familiar to me, though I can't quite put my finger on it… Then again, I may just be remembering the first time I laid eyes upon it, when we found this fool trying to escape. Something this ugly does not easily slip one's mind."

                "Shut up!" screamed Kinou. "Give her back to me!"

                Tanurah stopped and stared at her. "_Her_?" he mocked. "This is a bundle of ragged old cloth and it's filthy. Why would you want such a thing?"

                "Because she's mine! Give her back now!" Her hand partially lifted and she tried to form her hand to make Emily fly towards her, but she needed two hands to do so, and her other was still paralysed uselessly at her side. Tanurah smirked.

                "I think we have a motive," he said turning to Yami Marik. Yami Marik nodded and came over to Kinou. "She'll need a little help, of course, but that will be no trouble at all."

                Yami Marik chuckled and sat behind her on the table, and he reached around and held her hands out for her, as he had done in her dream. Kinou swallowed a whimper and growled at being used like some sort of doll. He straightened her fingers out and held her hands in front of her, and she focused on Emily with all of her might. Her forehead twinged, and Emily was jerked out of Tanurah's hands and flew in an arc towards Kinou; Yami Marik dropped her hand and held his out to catch her, but Kinou's arm suddenly sprang to life and snatched Emily out of the air. Tanurah raised an eyebrow.

                "Fascinating…" he murmured. He walked over to her and looked into her eyes with a piercing stare. She looked away, but almost in the same instant he grabbed her chin painfully and turned her face to him once again. "You are recovering far too quickly for my liking. Something's not right…" He continued to stare at her, as though he were trying to read her thoughts, and she tried to look back at him as though she had no idea what he was talking about. He let go of her chin and straightened up. "Well, no matter, all the sooner for us to put you to work."

                Kinou gulped. _I'm not going to let them get away with this… they killed Terry, damnit, he never did anything but fight for what was right._ She started coming up with some sort of plan as Tanurah and Yami Marik walked towards the panel once more; the screen that originally had Terry's barely moving brain wave had turned off, and hers was still shaking and peaking. _I'll pretend I can't move until I have control of my whole body, then I'll make a run for it._ Since the two men were still facing the control panel and muttering, she began to slowly flex the fingers in her other hand, as well as try to move her feet around, and they began to get some feeling back in them. As she continued to move, more and more of her body felt like it was cooling down as her nerves came back to life. Almost when she was sure she could move every part, Tanurah and Yami Marik broke apart, Tanurah walking over to a giant object covered in a white sheet and Yami Marik coming over to her once again. He picked her up and she made her body go completely limp, acting as though she were still paralysed. She kept a firm grip on Emily as Yami Marik carried her over to where Tanurah was; the doctor got a hold on one of the corners of the sheet and yanked it off.

                Kinou gasped. It was a platform of enormous proportions—in the middle of it there were two waist-high poles with wrist restraints attached at the tops and two foot clamps were visible between the poles. She slightly turned her head towards the ceiling and saw a giant antenna that had large cables running along it and around it like snakes, all of which were connected back to the giant control panel. At the very point of the antenna, there was what looked like a claw with little beads at the heads of the points. Her body tensed up and shivered at the sight, and Yami Marik stopped and stared at her. 

                "What is it now?" asked Tanurah, looking thoroughly angered at the delay.

                "Hey body has life," responded Yami Marik. "I felt her move."

                Tanurah's brow furrowed and he instantly came towards them. Kinou dropped her act and elbowed Yami Marik and the stomach; he dropped her and she fell on the ground, immediately getting up and backing towards the door. She hurriedly shoved Emily into her pocket and held her hands out in front of her. 

                "If you try anything, I'll wreck this whole place," she said.

                Neither of them moved as Kinou slowly walked backwards, keeping her hands in their ready position. She felt her foot run into something and she carefully reached behind her to feel around for the handle of the metal door. Yami Marik shrugged and started walking to the right; Kinou froze and put her hand out in front of her again. As she followed him with her eyes, she was sure to glance back at Tanurah to make sure he wasn't moving, either. When she looked back at Yami Marik, she was shocked to see him now standing by Kaiba, his Millennium Rod held at the ready. _Oh my God! I forgot Seto was here! _screamed Kinou to herself.

                "I would strongly advise you to reconsider your decision, my dear," he said, smirking and raising his arm to strike Kaiba.

                "If you touch one hair on him--!" yelled Kinou, walking forwards and focusing all her attention on him. 

                "You'll what?" sneered Yami Marik. "Send something towards me to fend me off? And risk hurting your precious little Kaiba?" He pushed his Millennium Rod against Kaiba's neck and tilted his head up as he spoke, and Kinou growled and took another step forward. Yami Marik smirked. "Let's see what he has to say about it, shall we?" With that, he yanked out Kaiba's gag, still keeping his Rod firmly against his chin. 

                "Kinou!" yelled out Kaiba. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get out of here! Now!" Kinou did not move, frozen to her spot by indecision. Both Yami Marik and Kaiba suddenly looked slightly to the right of her and Kaiba yelled again. "Kinou! Look—"

                Yami Marik struck him with his Millennium Rod; as Kinou cried out, Tanurah grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides with an extremely strong grip. Yami Marik swooped over as well and helped Tanurah drag her towards the platform; she was struggling with all that she had, but both men were surprisingly strong and would not loosen their grip on her. 

                "This would be a hell of a lot easier if you just restrained her with the Rod," growled Tanurah.

                "I've already told you, it has no effect whatsoever on those who posses that power!" Yami Marik snarled back.

                They successfully got her onto the platform and secured her wrists to the tops of the poles and her feet to the ground. As Tanurah walked off to start warming up the antennae above her, Yami Marik pulled it down and placed the tips of the claw-like attachment inches away from Kinou's head. 

                "What the hell is that?" said Kaiba from his chair, a slight trickle of blood now leaking down the side of his cheek. 

                Tanurah and Yami Marik turned simultaneously to face him. "Why don't we give you a better look at it, then maybe you can save us the trouble of explaining it," said Yami Marik, raising his Millennium Rod for what seemed like the hundredth time and making Kaiba soar towards the panel in his chair.  

                "Take a good look; you may recognise it," said Tanurah with a chuckle.

                Kaiba leaned forward and gazed at the antennae's panel for a little while, reading every little detail, until he finally looked back up at Tanurah. "This was my old satellite transmitter… what the hell have you done to it?"

                Tanurah laughed. "Almost nothing at all, really. We simply reconfigured it so that instead of hooking it up to a computer, we could hook it up to a person. By transmitting her power through the antennae, we can easily make her wreak havoc and destruction wherever we aim your satellite, easily swaying anyone to give all titles of power to us.  And personally, I think we should test it out first before we all get too excited. Care to do the honours?" he asked, gesturing to another large switch and mockingly bowing to Yami Marik.

                "With pleasure," said Yami Marik in return, walking forward. Kinou got a surge of foreboding an instant before he threw the switch, but the result wasn't nearly as painful as the first transaction. A strong light emitted from her body, as though her energy were a living aura around her. She gasped out as the beads of the antennae glowed a brilliant red and sent small beams of light into her mind, projecting an area right outside the gates of Kaiba's mansion in front of her eyes. 

                "It seems to be working," chuckled Tanurah, upon seeing her mouth drop open in surprise. "Go ahead and make something collapse, Kinou; we've all been waiting so patiently."

                Kinou closed her mouth, trying to come up with some reason it couldn't work. _Think, damnit, think!_ she yelled at herself. An idea popped into her head. "I can't," she stated simply. 

                "What? Why not?" yelled Tanurah.

                She shrugged her shoulders. "I can't make things move around unless I use my hands, and—" she laughed mockingly "—quite frankly my hands can't do much when they're locked down at my sides, now can they?" She couldn't see their faces, as the mental projection took up her whole line of vision, but she could still hear them.

                Yami Marik laughed. "Just lift them up, my dear, it's not that hard."

                Kinou sighed heavily. "Did you not just hear what I said? They're locked in these stupid—" She gasped as her hands raised up in front of her. She looked at them, turning them over, then looked down at herself. No restraints were around her feet anymore, and she tried to take a step—her body moved as though it were free. "How the hell did I get out here?" she wondered aloud.

                "You're not out there, Kinou; it's just a mental projection of yourself," said Tanurah impatiently. "Now walk until you find something to break."

                Kinou mentally folded her arms. "Why should I? You can't make me do that."

                "Oh yes we can," came Yami Marik's voice once again. "You forget who we have with us." Footsteps reached her ears as Kaiba's voice trailed out once again.

                "What are you doing? Keep that thing away from me!" She heard a swish of Yami Marik's cape and a loud cry of pain from Kaiba as the Millennium Rod once again connected with the side of his head. 

                "Stop it!" yelled Kinou. "Leave him out of this, damnit!"

                "Do you need to make this difficult? Everyone would be so much happier if you just do what you're told, like a good little girl," said Yami Marik, again talking to her like some pet. "Shall I motivate you again?" The sound of his cape reached her ears again and she put her mental hands out in front of her.

                "Don't!"

                "Then do as you're told," said Tanurah, sounding even more impatient, though he now had a slight trace of amusement in his voice. "Destroy the next car that comes by."

                Kinou swallowed hard as her eyes began darting around, looking for the unfortunate soul who would soon fall under her power. A small blue car drove by, and she stepped off the sidewalk, holding her hands out slightly, though they were shaking horribly. _I can't do this! I can't make him crash just because of some stupid insane—_

                She hesitated, and the car drove by, the driver completely oblivious to how close he had just come to death. "We saw that," said Tanurah, the amused edge completely gone now. "We can see what you're seeing on one of our monitors. If you do not destroy the next one, something much worse will befall your precious lover boy."

                "Why can't I just lift something and be done with it?" cried Kinou.

                "Because that would take all the fun out of it. There's another! Do it!" shouted Tanurah at her. 

                Kinou sharply turned her head to see a minivan driving by—with two small children in the back of it. "Do it now!" shouted Tanurah again, and Kaiba yelled out as Yami Marik began torturing him again. She raised her hands and focused on the car, trying to push out all the morals she had. As Kaiba's yells became louder, she could only think of saving him and tried to steady her hands. The car began to swerve dangerously towards the gate of the Kaiba mansion, the children screaming as the young mother driving it tried to turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction, panicking. As the car sped up and bumped over the curve, the mother threw up one of her hands in front of her, the other flying back to hold her children back. Kinou shut her eyes and suddenly turned her left palm down and then dropped her hands—causing the car to miss the heavy metal fence by inches and come to a screeching halt beside it. She fell to her knees, completely stunned at how easy it was to control the car, and shocked at herself for almost killing a family in an instant. Her heart gave a lurch as she saw the mother instantly jump out of her seat and throw the rear doors open to clasp her children to her, crying. Laughing reached her ears, and someone clapped enthusiastically. 

                "Fantastic!" yelled Tanurah, who continued to laugh insanely. "That was too much fun; just imagine how pathetic the most powerful people in the world will look, cowering like little dogs! I want to try it out one more time before we start."

                Before Yami Marik could respond, she heard him readjusting the coordinates of her location and she covered her head with her arms, tears dripping down her face. Tanurah entered the coordinates and she felt the claw warm up again around her head, her body beginning to glow. As the energy flowed into her, her mind felt pain once more, though it was stronger than the first time, and she cried out, clutching at her head. The ground and scenery disappeared from around her, and she felt herself back in the cold room, her wrists and feet restrained once more. Suddenly, her body felt like it was thrown into a wind tunnel, and a glint of light flashed before her eyes; she was in front of Kaiba Land, not very far at all from where she had been before, once again free of the metal binds.

                "You wouldn't dare…" snarled Kaiba; Kinou suspected that he had a clear view of the monitor as well.

                "Oh, but we would," chuckled Tanurah. "Kinou, why don't you start with the giant Blue Eyes White Dragon right in front? That should make quite a noise—"

                "We don't have time for this, doctor," cut in Yami Marik. 

                Kinou heard Tanurah turn quickly to him, obviously furious with him for interrupting his all too sweet revenge. There were a few moments of silence, and Tanurah turned back to the panel with a heavy, frustrated sigh as he began to readjust the controls. "Where shall we start?"

                "China has plenty of citizens to endanger and threaten; put her there," said Yami Marik.

                Kinou mentally put her hands out in front of her again. "No, please! Putting me here hurt enough! If you send me that far away, I'll pass out from the pain!"

                "You'll just have to bear it, then!" bellowed Tanurah, and he entered the coordinates.

                The claw once again warmed up and hummed, but Kinou felt the beads growing extremely hot near her head, and she tried to shrink away from them. As the ground once again disappeared, the antennae grew extremely loud and the beads suddenly sent their rays of energy into her mind; she screamed at the pain and tried to block it out, but it was almost as painful as the transaction with Terry and her head again felt like her mind was trying to tear itself apart. She faintly heard Kaiba yell out to her, but the surging power form the giant machine was close to making her eardrums burst; she couldn't even hear Marik as he tried to call her back into the recesses of her mind. Her body's senses returned her to the room, and she could barely struggle against the pain with her wrists and feet clamped down again. She almost fainted from the pain, before Kaiba let out a yell and she heard something hit the panel—one of her wrists was released from its restraint. Simultaneously, she regained some of her sight into the room; the light coming from her body was so strong it was brightening the whole room from corner to corner, and she looked just in time to see Kaiba raise one of his legs to kick at a button on the panel. When his foot came in contact with it, her other hand came free. She immediately reached up to push the claw away from her head to release herself from the immense pain, but at the same time Yami Marik and Tanurah gave anguished yells and lunged for her. Each of them grabbed one of her wrists and tried to force them back into the clamps—and their bodies began to glow with her same light as she felt energy rushing from her into them. They both yelled out in surprise and tried to pry their hands off of her, but they were latched onto her and couldn't let go. Kinou threw her head back as a particularly large surge of energy issued from the claw, through her mind, and into the two men grasping her. They screamed in unison, the pain radiating from all of their bodies, as Kaiba yelled once again and kicked another button on the control panel. The machine began to sizzle and smoke, and gave a final burst of electricity into the three before shutting off, blasting the two men away from her to land, unconscious, a couple feet away. Her feet clasps snapped off, she fell to her knees, and fainted as she slumped over in a crumpled heap.

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And there you have it~ chapter 23! And there was much rejoicing *little flags wave* Yay..... yay.... Heh, little Monty Python for ya ^___^. Just to let you all know, time to review while I'm still posting is running out; there are only two more chapters after this! So please review if you've been reading and not responding, you silly readers, you! Ja' ne ^^.


	24. The Final Blow

Hey, I wanted to welcome my newest reviewer Jon, and respond to the many questions  he asked ^__^. As for the few that you asked about Kinou using her power to do things like break Terry's lock open and throw Yami Marik off of her, she didn't use it on Terry's door because then she had just found out about it and really didn't know how to use it. Not to mention telekinesis is really just for moving objects around, and unless her mind were extremely sharp, she wouldn't be able to make the bolt inside of it slide open. And it's pretty much the same thing with the fact that she couldn't use her powers against Yami Marik (judging by when you asked that question, you're talking about the dream in which he showed her how to use her powers and took advantage of her); she had only just learned how to use it and he had her hands pinned up above her head, making it impossible to use anyway. Whew! Anyway, arigato for putting so much thought into your reviews ^^. And onto the next chapter!

**24. The Final Blow~**

                Kinou regained consciousness a little while later, but did not open her eyes, afraid of what she would see. Her whole body hurt, and it felt cold and empty; she couldn't hear Marik's voice at all in her mind. From what she could hear, the room was deathly silent, but after a few minutes, she realised that there was someone crawling toward her, breathing heavily. Her eyes snapped open, and she gasped as she saw Marik dragging himself to her, the Millennium Rod back in his possession. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise, for she could not find her voice at all. He pulled himself beside her at last and sat up slightly, reaching his arms around her and cradling her to him.

                "Are you hurt?" he whispered in her ear.

                Kinou, still unable to make a noise, nodded her head.

                "Can you move at all?"

                Again, she failed to speak and instead shook her head, closing her eyes.

                He sat her up and kissed her gently, holding her. "At least you're alive…" he murmured. 

                She opened her eyes imploringly and tried to speak to him. She wanted to ask what happened, why he was back in his body, why she had even survived, but all she could manage to get out was, "Wh….what…."

                "By Ra, I have no idea," he said, catching her drift rather quickly. "When my Yami was latched onto you, I was pulled out of your mind right before the machine turned off and I woke up, back inside my body. My Yami must have been knocked unconscious from the blast, but thankfully I woke up much sooner."

                Kinou smiled weakly and tried to move, but her body completely refused to do so without her muscles screaming in protest. She found her voice slightly, though. "What about… what about Tanurah?"

                Marik looked around the room and his eyes came to rest to the left of the platform, which had dust still settling upon its fractured frame. "He appears to be unconscious as well. We had better go to tie him up before he wakes up."

                "Or," cut in an angry voice, making Marik instinctively clutch her closer to him. "You can come over and _un_tie _me_!"

                Kinou and Marik both turned to see Kaiba glaring at them—from the floor, for his chair had been knocked over in the blast. They started laughing, and Marik gently laid her back on the floor before approaching Kaiba, limping slightly. "Oh, poor child, did you fall and hurt yourself?" he asked mockingly, standing over him. Kaiba growled, but Marik chuckled and knelt down to begin to untie him. Kinou kept giggling at seeing the great Seto Kaiba completely helpless on the ground, and he hurriedly dusted himself off when the last of the ropes fell away from his shoulders. Marik walked back over to her and slid his arms underneath her to pick her up; she slowly looped one of her arms around his back and her other grasped the front of his shirt. Resting her head against his chest, she was glad for his warmth, for she had started to shiver uncontrollably; not to mention her body became more able to move as it warmed up. Marik kissed her forehead before looking at Kaiba again. 

                "Go and tie him up; I'll start getting her warm," he said.

                "Since when have you had the right to give me orders?" snarled Kaiba, obviously angry at the sight of him holding Kinou the way he was. "Last time I checked, you only wanted her to gain that stupid Millennium Puzzle for yourself, as if it has any real power!"

                "And last time I checked, you wanted her for tests!" yelled Marik, squeezing her to him even more. 

                Kaiba stepped towards them, lowering his voice. "That was my original intention, yes, but when I rescued her from you, it was out of the want for her to be safe; I made sure she was escorted everywhere by someone trustworthy to make sure nothing hurt her; most of the time I walked her myself."

                "Oh yes, trustworthy indeed," sneered Marik. "How trustworthy is someone who tortures a young boy in secret for his own cruel intentions?"

                "As if you had no fault in your acquaintances; how dare you let that freak take over your body to hurt her? You knew what he was doing, and what did you ever do to try to stop it?" 

                Kinou had gotten the feeling back in her legs by now and stood beside Marik as he gently put her down to glare at Kaiba. "You have obviously not experienced the terrors of having a darker half," he whispered dangerously. "Do you honestly think that I didn't try to keep those horrible things from happening? Do you think it was easy for me to watch as he raped her?" Kaiba looked, shocked, at Kinou as Marik pulled her to him once more. "If you truly cared for her, you would have known everything that has happened to her ever since she was taken into this world; yet you barely know half of the torture she has experienced!"

                Kaiba walked forward and threw Marik's arms off her and pushed her away as he grabbed Marik by the front of his shirt. "If you hadn't intruded in the first place, she would have been with me from the very beginning! Far away from that sick-minded freak!"

                Marik tugged Kaiba's hands off of him and both of them began to yell at each other. Kinou put her hands to her mouth as they became more and more enraged, looking as though they wanted to snap the other to pieces. She was just about to take a step forward to try to separate them—when something caught her eye. Looking around them, she could have sworn something had moved near the platform. Her attention was snapped back to Kaiba and Marik when she heard one of them yell her name, though she could not tell which one it was because they were shouting with the same force, making it difficult for her to discern what they were saying. Suddenly, both of them reached out, Kaiba grabbing her left arm and Marik her right; they pulled her towards them and they both shouted, "I love her!"

                They both ceased yelling, their last proclamation echoing into nothingness as they stared at each other with their mouths open.  Kinou felt both of their grips tighten on her, and as Marik clenched his teeth, Kaiba hissed, "What did you say?"

                "You heard me," he whispered back dangerously. "The same as what you said, you liar."

                They both squeezed her arms even tighter, and she became angry. "Hey!" They both stopped looking daggers at each other to look at her, and she wrenched her arms from them. "You guys are fighting like kids! If you—"

                She stopped, her attention once again caught by a small movement by the platform. The other two turned around and looked at the same spot just in time to see Tanurah rise up out of the dust. Kaiba swooped Kinou into his arms and pulled her back as Marik thrust out his arm with his Millennium Rod pointed at the doctor. Tanurah slowly glanced around at where they were, though he appeared only slightly disoriented as he realised that Yami Marik was no longer there. He looked at the three, and then looked down at himself in amazement, as though he felt entirely different than before.

                "Why, doctor you look so pale," sneered Kaiba from above her, his arms still wrapped around her protectively. "What's the matter? Disappointed that your plan crumbled pathetically at your feet?"

                "Not at all," Tanurah said simply, a malicious grin starting to play across his lips as he flexed his hands before looking up at them. "I'm just slightly amused that my partner did not have the strength to keep that pathetic little weakling from taking over again. Not to mention the fact that you both seem to hold that girl's safety above your own. It's really quite frivolous."

                Marik gritted his teeth and his hand tightened on the Millennium Rod. "Say any more and you'll take a nice little trip to the Shadow Realm," he snarled, reminding Kinou so much of the Marik she knew before the whole ordeal.

                The doctor laughed. "I'd like to see you try." Kinou stared at him as Marik set his jaw to prepare to summon the powers to banish Tanurah's mind for good. _Something's not right with him. He knows he lost, why prolong it? He's fearless_. "But, before you do, I'd sure like to see Kinou's powers in person once more," he said, causing the three to look at him in bewilderment.

                "Do you honestly think that piece of junk still works?" asked Kinou, gesturing to the smouldering antennae, which looked as though it might fall at any moment given the right opportunity. 

                "No, just on something in this room would be perfectly fine," snickered Tanurah, Kinou getting slightly annoyed at his amusement.

                "How about I use it on that machine and make it fall on you? You know, put you out of your misery right here and now," she scowled.

                "Go right ahead," said Tanurah, shifting his weight to one foot and putting his hands in his lab coat pockets, grinning. Kinou froze. _What the hell is wrong with him?_ she asked herself_. That blast must have messed with his head…_ "Well, we're waiting," he sneered, looking up at the antennae.

                "Do it, Kinou," said Kaiba, letting her go and putting his hands instead on her shoulders. "It'd do us all a favour."

                Kinou nodded and stretched out her hands. She felt no resistance to kill as she had earlier, for which she was very grateful; she wanted to hurt Tanurah as much as she could and this was the worst she could possibly do. Though, as she focused on him, his grin became wider, almost to the point where he looked like he was about to laugh. She thought of nothing but moving the antennae ever so slightly, just enough to make it fall and rid the world of his existence for good, just enough to satisfy everyone, and end this nightmare. 

                Nothing happened. Looking at her hands and pausing, she looked back up at the antennae and tried again, but no familiar twinge in her forehead came, the antennae refused to move at all. She looked over at Marik incredulously, who was watching her with so much anticipation she couldn't stand it. 

                "What is it?" he asked worriedly.

                "…it's…it's not working anymore," she said, staring at her hands again. Tanurah started to laugh at them, his cold, cruel voice echoing throughout the room, as Kinou clenched her hands so suddenly devoid of their tremendous power. "What happened to it?"

                "No matter, I can still make him suffer," said Marik, pointing his Rod once again at the doctor. Tanurah took his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms, not flinching as the Millennium Rod began to glow with a radiant aura. "Now, feel the empty eternal darkness of the Shadow Realm!" shouted Marik, and with that he thrust his Millennium Rod in front of him, sending a blast of radiant light towards Tanurah. The doctor tilted his chin up ever so slightly as the light hit him and went right though, as though he weren't there. Marik froze with the Millennium Rod still glowing slightly in front of him, and Tanurah laughed once more as he held his hands out in front of him in the form Kinou had come to master.

Kinou put two and two together and screamed, "Marik! Get out of the way! _He_ has my powers now!"

Marik ducked just in time to dodge one of the tables that came hurtling toward him through the air; it stopped, hovering a few inches above the ground as Tanurah turned both of his palms down and held his hands steady. Kinou's mouth dropped open. "How did you do that?"

He laughed again. "I learn quickly, Kinou. Mr. Kaiba there has recording equipment in all medical rooms and rooms used for study. I simply watched the video of you and that fool of a nurse practising a few times and deduced all that I needed to know."

"How dare you take advantage of my equipment," growled Kaiba, stepping out from behind her.

Tanurah shrugged, the table still staying in the air about five feet away from Marik, Marik eyeing it cautiously every so often. "You really should have been more careful with it, Mr. Kaiba. On the night you 'saved' Kinou, I was watching from across the street, for I had taken one of your trackers with me to see that you got her. Unfortunately, _he_ had to take over that little boy and try to take her for himself. But now—" his eyes narrowed "—he's not here to interfere. I will take the world as its one and only ruler! Never again will he intrude into my thoughts and cause me pain when I refuse to rush through my studies, never again will I have to listen to his ramblings about the pharaoh's power! All is mine to take!" 

With that, he hurled the table at Marik again, nearly hitting him before he jumped back. Kaiba drew Kinou back more, but she struggled against him to get to Marik. As Tanurah maneuvered his hands, he caused more and more objects to fly at Marik, as well as at Kinou and Kaiba, displaying concentration and skills Kinou never thought possible. Suddenly, Marik yelled out to Kaiba and Kinou, Kinou still trying to pry his arms off her. 

                "Get out of here!" he shouted, sending a stream of light from his Rod to meet the table flying dangerously through the air, causing it to stop completely, shaking as both men tried to force it back onto each other. 

                "I won't leave!" screamed Kinou, but she felt Kaiba's grip on her tighten as he started to drag her back towards the door. Tanurah was using all of his concentration on keeping the table from coming at him, which left them a free pathway to the exit without getting hurt, but still Kinou struggled against her protector. "Marik!" she cried, stretching out her hand to him.

                He continued to battle with the doctor and only grimaced as the table teetered dangerously, and she felt Kaiba stop and release her with one of his arms to open up the door now right behind them. She heard the creaking of metal and his arm wound its way around her once more, and he pulled her through the doorway. She yelled, fighting more than ever before against Kaiba, but he pushed her the rest of the way through the doorway, making her lose her balance and fall hard on the floor. Looking up and through the door Kaiba was rapidly closing, she saw Marik give a great heave with his arm and the table flew to the side and both men dropped it. As it crashed into the wall, Marik turned sharply towards Kinou as Tanurah gasped for breath.  As Kinou looked into his eyes, she was shocked to see them full of emotion, determination being the most prominent, but a sort of longing was right with it. Time seemed to slow down in that moment, drawing it out for what felt like an eternity as they stared at each other. His mouth quietly formed the words, "I love you, Kinou," before he turned back to the giant antennae and began to walk towards it, his Millennium Rod glowing once more. Kinou realised what he was going to do a second before Kaiba shut the door.

"MARIK!" she screamed, standing up and running to the door; she was about to tug it open again right as a tremendous crash of metal and electricity sounded, causing the very ground to shake. She held onto the door to keep from falling over, the terrible noise that sounded like a train colliding with another ringing in her ears. It sounded as though the whole room was collapsing, the concrete ceiling falling in great chunks while the steel rods supporting it creaked as they bent in half. As the sound died away, she still clutched the door, one of her hands resting against its frame. Her eyes eased open slightly as she listened through it, but no other noise reached her ears, only a deadly silence filled the destroyed room beyond. She slowly sank to the floor, tears clouding her vision. "Marik…"

*         *         *

Yes, yes, another death. *tear tear sniff* Anyway, as a heads up, there is only ONE MORE CHAPTER after this one! And then it's over! And then you all will have to read my sequel! Bwahaha! 


	25. The Calm Before A Storm

:sighs: Well, this is the last chapter of meh story :sniffs loudly: arigato gozaimasu to everyone who's been reviewing; you all are really awesome! I hope you enjoyed my fic and enjoy this last chapter, which, I'm warning you now, has a major major cliffie at the end . Arigato again! 

****

**25. The Calm Before A Storm:**

Kinou sat with her chin resting on her knees, her back against the backboard of her bed in the guest suite. It was still in disarray from when she had torn though it in her search for Emily, and she was in no rush to clean it up. A small bandage had been put over her cheek and her bruises were turning a light yellow in their healing; the skin around Tanurah's shot was still grey-green, but her arm wasn't sore anymore around where the needle had penetrated her skin. She had barely slept over the past week; flashes of the terrible events were playing through her mind like a movie reel, and she could not stop them. When she closed her eyes, she saw Marik, staring at her with the burning passion in his eyes before going and sacrificing himself to save her. Emily was clutched limply in her hand; Kinou had talked to her more than she ever had in her whole life in her waking hours since the death of Marik. All throughout the day, the sounds of construction were loud and incessant as building crews scrambled to uncover most of the ruins and rebuild a structure to keep that end of Kaiba's mansion from collapsing on top of it. No bodies had been found yet in the excavation, and Kinou had pretty much given up asking anymore, grimly assured that they would never find either the doctor or Marik. 

A quiet knock on her door interrupted her gloom and she wearily called to let the person know that she was in there. Not that she needed to, she had not left her room at all, but she merely did it out of habit, perhaps to reassure the person that she had not died or something. Kaiba opened the door and she slowly raised her eyes to him as he quietly closed it behind him and walked over to her bed. As he sat down, she said nothing, but looked at him, asking him the same question she had been asking over and over again with her eyes. He caught her glance and looked away with a heavy sigh.

"No, Kinou, they haven't found anything yet…" he murmured.

She nodded to show that she had heard, and turned her head to one side, resting her cheek on her knees instead. This had become almost a daily routine, and usually it ended with Kaiba telling her the same news and going, but today he did not leave her as he usually did. He moved his legs onto the bed and scooted until he was right next to her; he put both of his arms around her and put his head on hers, rocking her from side to side. "I hate to see you like this, Kinou," he said. "I wish there were something I could do to brighten your mood, but the only thing that might even have a chance would be news that you could go home, and I can't truthfully tell you that. I promise I'll get people working on that as soon as that mess is cleaned up, if it'll make you happy."

Kinou smiled slightly for the first time in days and snuggled a little bit closer to him, turning her head instead to lean on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I'm trying to get over it… I am…" she whispered.

"I'm not asking you to hurry up and feel better for me, Kinou. It's hard to lose someone you love."

Kinou's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't," she said.

"What?"

"I've been thinking a lot these past few days, and… I've realised that I didn't really love him; I only thought I did because of the way he had helped me. He was the one person that really offered me comfort through the dark times, and for that reason I felt especially close to him. But after thinking about it for the past few days, I know now that it was just a warm feeling I had for him; it wasn't love," said Kinou softly.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Kaiba.

Kinou sat up and looked deep into his eyes. "Because I had already given my heart to someone else." She reached out and put her hand on his cheek, and his face broke into a genuine smile, as did hers. He leaned forward, moving his hand up her back and behind her head to guide her face to his. When their lips met, Kinou felt a warmth within her awaken, calming her more than anything else had. His tongue did not wend its way into her mouth as it had before; they just sat by each other, holding the kiss for only a moment or two before Kaiba broke it and rested his forehead against hers, a small sigh blowing soft, warm air onto her cheek. "That's about the best thing I've heard all week," he said.

Kinou laughed slightly and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his neck lightly. He kept one of his arms around her and used his other to gently stroke her hair as they sat in silence for a few minutes. Another person rapped on her door and Kaiba sat up and called for them to come in. As one of his guards came in wearing a grim expression, his hands behind his back, Kaiba swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up with his arms folded. "What is it?" he asked.

The guard stopped in front of him and cleared his throat. "The building crew just uncovered the bodies underneath a particularly large pile of rubble." Kinou's eyes began to water, and she was just about to speak before the guard continued: "The bodies were almost beyond recognition, but there was one thing that survived completely intact beside one of them." He moved his arm out from behind him and held out Marik's Millennium Rod to Kaiba, who looked shocked. "We weren't sure what to do with it, so we thought we'd let you decide, Mr. Kaiba. We can easily dispose of it if you wish."

Kinou slid forward on her bed and hung her legs over the side, gazing at the Rod. Kaiba threw her a glance before turning back to the guard. "I'll take it," he said curtly. "Make sure that the bodies are given a decent burial, but clearly mark the one that holds the body near which this was found." The guard nodded, and Kaiba took the Millennium Rod from him before he left, closing the door with a snap.

"Thank you for not throwing it away," said Kinou.

Kaiba seemed not to hear her; he was staring at the Rod as though he had never felt anything like it before, and he slowly turned it over in his hands. "This seems extremely familiar to me… I don't understand; I've never held this before in my life, but it fits into my hand as though it were made for me…"

"That _was_ yours once." 

Kaiba turned to her, suddenly breaking the trance that the Rod had put on him. "Don't tell me you believe those lies that fool Ishizu told me? That I was a high priest in Ancient Egypt and this was my item?" he scoffed.

Kinou nodded slightly. "I do believe her."

Kaiba made a noise of contempt and looked rather angry. Kinou decided to take this opportunity to leave. "I'm going to visit Lonu for a little while. I haven't seen her for a really long time, and…" she trailed off, pushing herself off the bed and getting her shoes on, walking toward the door. She took one last look at Kaiba before shutting the door behind her to go to the hospital wing: his attention had turned once again to the Millennium Rod, and he was staring at it like it was an unsolvable puzzle.

After she shut the door, Kaiba raised his eyes to follow her, a sick smile playing across his lips. The Rod had begun to glow with a powerful aura, and Kaiba's eyes were unfocused and dark as he snickered, clutching the Rod firmly in his hand. "So we meet again, Anji," he said, his voice deeper and frightening. "And this time you won't escape from me… I will be sure to finish what I started five thousand years ago."

:takes a bow: Well, there you have it . Nasty cliffie, ne? Especially since it could take me quite some time before I post the sequel, since I'm at a complete block at the beginning of the fourth chapter of it. And I mean completely stuck. Not to mention I have started another fic called Kiseki that's keeping me quite preoccupied at the moment, so if you get bored waiting for the sequel to go up, read that . I'm glad you all have taken the time to read and review this! ARIGATO! :huggles everyone: Ja' ne for now!

Edie Adams


	26. Authoress' note about the pictures

Konichiwa! Alright, this is just to tell all of you that you no longer need to email me for the pictures! I have created a web page with all of them and the link is in my profile, so just go there and you'll find it! No more emailing! Anyway, arigato gozaimasu for everyone's awesome reviews; I'll be sure to try to start posting my sequel soon! Ja' ne

Edie


	27. Scrapped Scene

Well! Here's something to fill in for not posting anything since I'll be gone all weekend (at a leadership camp for marching band =]) I'll post a lot next weekend! For now, here is a scene that I wrote a really long time ago for this story, as I had considered it going in a completely random direction. Here's how this fit in originally: the first time Kinou meets Kaiba, he doesn't save her hanging off of his helicopter, in fact, the "dream" Kinou had about being raped by Yami Marik really happens at first and this scene came after, when Kinou was lying in her room in Marik's house after it happened. So yeah… had I used this part, the story would have turned out very different, but I scrapped it after coming up with a lot of other ideas. Enjoy!

Kinou lay awake for nearly an hour, not moving, completely paralyzed. She could not think, nor did she want to at all. She kept her mind blank to keep the feeling of being unclean at bay. She tried to sleep, for she was exhausted, but she also feared to fall asleep, in case Yami Marik decided to come back. She was so absorbed in trying to remain out of focus that it took her a few minutes to realize there were voices drifting up from below her window. Adrenaline rushed through her body, giving her the strength she would need in case they were Rare Hunters coming to take her in the night.

The talking ceased, and she could hear grunting as whomever it was started to climb up. Her windows were open and she couldn't get to them to shut them in time, so she picked up the lamp on the small table beside her and crawled off the bed, holding the lamp high above her head, ready to strike.

Someone peeked their head into her room, and then took it back out and said something to whoever was standing on the ground below him. He climbed through the window; his jacket caught on something and he fell hard onto the floor with a loud "Umph!" He stood up cautiously, looking around; Kinou couldn't see his expression, it was so dark, nor could she see what he looked like, only that he, like everyone else she had met, was taller than her.

Kinou took a deep breath, took a big step towards him, and swung the lamp at his head with all of her might. He fell to the ground, though he was not unconscious: she could hear him muttering curses under his breath from the floor. She was about to go over and pin him down, to ask him questions, when suddenly the lamp was knocked out of her hands: the second person had followed the first and he tripped her and twisted her arm painfully behind her back and held her to the floor.

"Hey, Joey, you all right, man?" he asked, addressing the first person.

"Joey?" asked Kinou blankly; the man holding her down was far too strong for her and she couldn't get up, so she spoke from the floor. "Joey Wheeler?"

Joey grunted. "Ughhh..." he said, standing up and rubbing his head. He teetered dangerously and he fell to his knees. "Wha.... wha the hell happn'd?" he managed to slur out.

"You were hit with a lamp, buddy," he replied, lifting Kinou up. "by this girl."

Joey seemed to come to his senses and he stood up again. He still swayed, but he put his hand on the wall to steady himself. "Who?"

"Me," said Kinou, trying to squirm to make the person let go of her, but he only tightened his grip and brought her other arm behind her painfully. "You're Joey Wheeler?" she asked again.

"Yeah," said Joey, "and who do you think you are, hittin' me with that lamp?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," she said defensively.

"And why do you think that we should trust you?" asked the person behind her, and she finally recognized his voice.

"Because I want to get out of here, Tristan," she said.

She felt Tristan's grip on her tighten.

"Okay, here's a question for ya," said Joey, "how is it that you know both our names, yet we have no idea who you are?"

"I watch Yu-Gi-Oh every day, how could I not recognize your guys' voices?" she asked as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"We still don't know who you are," said Tristan.

"My name is Kinou, if that's any help at all."

Joey took his hand off the wall. "No way! Tristan, we guessed right on the first try!" he yelled, punching the air.

"Keep your voices down!" Kinou whispered harshly. "There are way too many people who could hear you if you shout like that. So, wait a minute... you came here for me? Why?"

"Well, think about it: Marik's after Yug's puzzle, right?" said Joey matter-of-factly.

"Right," said Kinou. "Umm, Tristan?" she asked, shifting: Tristan still had her arms twisted behind her.

"What? Oh, sorry," he said, letting go of her.

Joey laughed. "Tristan, you blockhead."

"Hey, shut up, Joey, you would have forgotten too!" Tristan retaliated.

"No I wouldn't," said Joey, and he continued: "So, since we got word that Marik had brought ya here, we thought it'd be a good idea to come and get ya to show ya that we're the good guys before he turned ya against us." Joey stood up tall, as though it was all his idea.

"Great! Let's go!" Kinou said, walking towards the window.

"Wow, just like that? Awesome! And you said this was gonna be hard, Tristan!" said Joey, following her.

"That was Tea who said that, stop showing off!" said Tristan, his voice rising.

Kinou shushed them again and chivvied them towards the window. Tristan climbed out first, and then Joey went after him. As Joey climbed onto the drainpipe, Kinou heard the smallest of creaks coming from on of the bolts securing it to the side of the house and warned Joey to be quiet. He slowed his climbing down and no more noise emitted from the pipe. Kinou took one last look at her room, shut the window behind her and began to climb down the pipe. The bolts creaked again and she stopped sliding down until they stopped, then dropped cat-like onto the ground.

"Where did you guys come from?" she whispered.

"I think it was over here..." answered Joey, moving towards the left and into the forest.

"No way, man, it was over there," said Tristan, grabbing Joey by the arm and pointing to the right.

"Nah, I have a photographic memory and it's tellin' me that we came from---over---there," said Joey, attempting to wrench his arm free.

"Yeah, a photographic memory for good places to eat!" said Tristan skeptically. "C'mon Joey, trust me on this one!"

Joey turned around to face Tristan. "How do you know you're not wrong? It's so dark that no one could really tell where they're go—" He was cut off by a loud groan of metal coming from the house. "Kinou, watch it!" he yelled, pointing behind her.

Kinou turned around just in time to see the drainpipe come free of its bindings and fall, cracking her on the head and knocking her out cold.

--------------------

"Yug, you still there?" "C'mon man you haven't left her side in hours, you should get some rest." "I can't guys, what if she's really hurt? She hasn't woken up or anything since you brought her here."

The words were slowly filtering into Kinou's mind, making her head hurt badly. She could barely sense her body, as though the link between it and her head had been severed. She couldn't recognize any of the voices and wondered who "Yug" was.

"Well, then why don't we take her to a hospital?" "No, guys. You barely made it back here without five Rare Hunters hot on your trail; if we take her outside, they'll find her one way or another easily." "Yeah, not to mention you seem to be doin' a pretty good job by yourself, Yug." "Thanks, I do my best. Which reminds me..."

Something Kinou had not noticed before was lifted off her forehead; it left behind some moisture that evaporated quickly, making her shiver.

"Hey, Yug! She moved!" "What?" "Yeah, right when you took off the washcloth thing; it looked like she was cold." "Hang on I'll go get a blanket!"

Kinou heard footsteps fading away, but she could hear them clearly; her head seemed to be clearing up.

"Hey Joey, maybe we should put the washcloth back on..." "Yeah, good idea, but maybe we should let it soak in some hot water first, like Yug was doin' before."

She heard a small splash of water and then a hot towel was pressed onto her forehead. Too hot! She thought, and she tried to move her head to show she didn't like it. She managed a small shake_. I hope that was enough to catch... someone's...... Joey's or Tristan's! That's who's there beside me! Whew, took me a while, I thought I had amnesia. _

"Yug!" called Joey. "She moved again!"

"I'm coming!" came Yugi's voice from a distance.

Kinou was uncomfortable under the cloth and she became angry that they couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. Maybe I should try talking.... wait... why don't I just open my eyes? I should have done that a while ago! Maybe my head's not as clear as I thought...

Her eyelids seemed to weigh a ton each, but she managed to open them a small crack; light flooded in and she shut them quickly again, a bright strip of light now flashing across her eyelids.

"....oo.....bri......" she blurbed out.

"Wha? Kinou? You awake? C'mon girl say somethin' else!" said Joey urgently, sitting her up.

She tried to open her eyes again, but the bright light was still there. She had gotten some feeling back in her arms and lifted one of them to shield her eyes.

"Tristan! Turn that lamp off!"

She heard a click, and slowly opened her eyes to see a blonde-haired, brown-eyed Joey about three inches from her face. She yelled out and Joey yelled too, falling back on the floor

"S--sorry Joey... You scared m--me." She was finding it extremely difficult to talk. "W--where.....am I?"

"Yug's house, where else?" said Joey, getting up and rubbing his butt. "Why doesn't Yug have some sort of a rug or carpeting in here? That floor really hurt."

Kinou took the cloth off of her forehead and ran her hand over her face. She could feel a large lump on the front of her forehead and it was extremely painful. "What happened?" she asked.

At that moment, Yugi came in holding a big blanket. He was a lot smaller than Kinou had imagined him; he was at least 7 inches shorter than Joey.

"Oh, good!" he said, sounding immensely relieved. He put the blanket on her and handed her an ice pack that he had brought with him. "You'd better put this on to keep the swelling down."

"Thanks," she said, putting it gingerly on the lump.

----------

Heh, and that's all I had. It was going to go on to her meeting Tea and Bakura (Bakura was originally the one who was watching her from across the street when she was running from the Rare Hunters), and then Yami Yugi was going to be the one who worked with her on her powers, meditating with her and such to clear her mind. And, that's all the planning I did for this thread off =]. I'll post on Kiseki and Darker Shades Than Black next weekend, and I might even post the second chapter of The Darkness Within Me. See you all next weekend!


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